Issue 1-Sep 2015 - BBC Music Magazine (2024)

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BBC Music Magazine is a must for anyone with a passion for classical music. Classical music connoisseurs and new enthusiast alike will enjoy the fascinating features and reviews of over 120 new works in every issue. Please Note: Our digital edition does not include the cover mount items or supplements you would normally find with printed copies

in this issue

EVERY MONTHTHE MONTH IN MUSICON STAGE Electric Leeds Former Leeds International Piano Competition winners have included Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia, and the likes of Mitsuko Uchida and András Schiff have been finalists too. The competition, founded by Dame Fanny Waterman (right) in 1961, has a fine track record of bringing to light the greats of tomorrow, so expect an electric atmosphere at Leeds Town Hall for the final on 13 September. See p86 ON AIR Brahms charms Jamie Barton was an immensely popular winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2013, so will be sure to receive the warmest of welcomes when she makes her debut at the BBC Proms on 1 Sept. For her Albert Hall outing, the US mezzo joins the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in…1 min

EVERY MONTHTHIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORSPeter Bouteneff Author and writer ‘How does Arvo Pärt write music that breathes an intense spirituality to people of all faiths and of none? Part of the answer, I think, lurks within his odyssey of inward and outward exile, and his spiritual and musical searches…’ Page 22 Christopher Gillett Baritone and author ‘I’ve worked with countless musicians who, like me, found their musical feet at university rather than at a conservatoire. What inspired them to give up Law, Zoology, Economics (that was me)... and perform for a living?’ Page 44 Erik Levi Professor, critic and author ‘After immersing myself in the wonderful and wide-ranging musical world of George Enescu, there is little doubt in my mind that he is the one great composer of the first half of…1 min

EVERY MONTHWelcomeAll musicians, amateur and professional, know only too well that their best friends are a decent 2B pencil and a top-quality white rubber. Add to that coloured felt-tip pens, crayons and Post-it Notes and you’ve got the full arsenal. Marking up a score with fingerings/bowings/pedallings is the first thing many musicians do before the serious practice can begin; as pianist James Rhodes told me for our fascinating piece starting on p32, good fingering can do 90 per cent of the work for you. From then on, the score becomes a musical notice-board of philosophical ramblings, reminders, quotations, directions for the page-turner and even phone numbers of favourite restaurants. This world of intense musical preparation is usually hidden from us, partly because so many musicians perform without the score, but also…2 min

EVERY MONTHLETTERSPETER THE GREAT Your farewell to violinist Peter Cropper (August) does not do justice to all that he did for chamber music. He and The Lindsays founded Music in the Round in Sheffield, playing in the Crucible Studio with the audience surrounding them 360 degrees at close quarters. They introduced a less stuffy form of music-making – no tails and bow ties – with Peter’s illuminating and amusing commentary on the music. We were all friends! When the Lindsays retired, he founded Ensemble 360 at the Crucible, which included The Elias String Quartet, Tim Horton on piano and distinguished wind players, 11 in all. His vision was to take chamber music to places where it had never been heard, principally in the north of England. Music in the Round, which…4 min

EVERY MONTHLETTER OF THE MONTHA MEMORABLE START I read July’s Music That Changed Me by Daniel Barenboim during a pause in clearing my house in readiness for down-sizing. It brought to mind a memory that has now been confirmed by finding in said clearing a concert programme for a concert by the New Philharmonia at the Royal Albert Hall, to which my parents took me as a teenager some 46 years ago. The performances that night have continued to live and enrich my very being: the Elgar Cello Concerto played by Jacqueline du Pré, followed by The Dream of Gerontius with Janet Baker, Robert Tear and John Shirley-Quirk. Du Pré’s passion was deepened by Baker’s heavenly angel, Tear’s humanity, and Shirley-Quirk’s diction and clarity of phrasing – truly touches of the divine. That concert…1 min

EVERY MONTHPetrenko says ‘Ja!’ to Berlin PhilIn what was once seen as a head-to-head race between Christian Thielemann and Andris Nelsons, Kirill Petrenko has been chosen by the players of the Berlin Philharmonic to be their new chief conductor. The Russian, 43, will be taking over from Sir Simon Rattle, who leaves the orchestra in 2018, though no exact date has been given for when Petrenko’s tenure will begin. Appropriately for an election process that has endured more than its fair share of mishaps along the way, even the announcement of the conductor’s appointment came with a touch of farce – with Petrenko himself nowhere to be seen, his big moment was revealed at a lunchtime press conference that was hastily convened by the orchestra’s board after the outcome of the players’ vote had been leaked…2 min

Issue 1-Sep 2015 - BBC Music Magazine (2024)

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