Classical music for beginners: ten great works to inspire a lifelong love of classical
New to classical music? Here’s ten works we are sure will get you hooked... Daniel Jaffé counts down ten great classical music pieces for beginners
This cat reacts to music in her own *very* particular way
Take one black cat. Add Mahler's hyper-emotional Ninth Symphony. Result: well, see for yourself...
'The greatest single step in the history of music': the masterpiece that tore up the classical rulebook
We analyse the genius and revolutionary inspiration behind Beethoven's extraordinary, epoch-making Third Symphony, the 'Eroica'
Best Romantic composers: the visionaries who flooded music with passion and drama
From Beethoven and Schubert via Mendelssohn and Mahler to Strauss and Rachmaninov, we pore over the greatest composers from the Romantic era, renowned for its grand musical passions and dramas
I spent three years in isolation. Now I'm making music about resilience, love and hope
BAFTA-winning composer Jessica Curry, known for her deeply emotive classical and video game music, spent three years in isolation due to her immunosuppressant condition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Struggling with profound loneliness, grief, and creative silence, she found solace and purpose through music
This is now the most expensive violin in history
For some 12 years, the position of world's most expensive violin was occupied by a famous Guarneri violin from 1741. Now that's all changed - and Stradivarius is back at the top
Thomas Beecham: master of the waspish one-liner. But an often visionary conductor, too
He might be best remembered now for his frequently withering wit and the head start his family background gave him. But Thomas Beecham was also a conductor of rare insight and musicality
So you like Vivaldi's Four Seasons... why not try these other seasonal works?
Music, madness and murder: why Amadeus is the greatest music film of all time
‘Everything you’ve heard is true,’ proclaimed the posters for Miloš Forman’s Amadeus – a cinematic tale of genius and envy, based on Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed stage play about Mozart and Salieri’s bitter rivalry. Forty years on, Charlotte Smith looks back at a very special production
Here are 11 very cute pictures of great musicians and their beloved pets
There's a long and frankly very cute story to be told about the strong bonds forged between musicians and their pets. Here are some of the most life-affirming musician-pet combos
Meet the most fascinating figures from classical music
Emil Gilels: a guide to the famous Soviet pianist and his best recordings
Maria Razumovskaya digs through the archives to cast fresh light on the extraordinary life of the great Soviet pianist Emil Gilels
The singer who spat at her deadly rival: lurid tales from the 1920s' great opera divas
The Roaring Twenties saw the rise of sports, jazz and film stars, so how did opera’s leading singers stay in the limelight? By trying to beat these new celebrities at their own game, writes Alexandra Wilson
Masaaki Suzuki: one man's lifelong mission to bring Bach to Japan
As Bach Collegium Japan celebrates its 35th anniversary, its legendary music director speaks to Amanda Holloway about a lifetime devoted to the great Baroque composer
The great composers
Explore the lives and works of classical music's finest composers
Leonard Bernstein: the showman and visionary who redefined American music-making
Conductor Grant Llewellyn shares a personal snapshot of what life, rehearsals and music were like with the legendary composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein
Elizabeth Poston: the British composer and WW2 secret agent who sent coded messages through music
Evidence that British composer Elizabeth Poston sent musical war codes via BBC radio broadcasts is tantalisingly scant. But was her alleged method of contacting the Allies widespread? Christopher Lambton examines the clues
‘His music makes me physically sick': 15 juiciest composer insults
Sparks fly and verbal venom is spat, as John Evans explores the great names who simply loved to take potshots at each other
Beethoven unleashed: the man, the myth, the music that shook the world
John Suchet profiles Ludwig van Beethoven - the composer who sparked a musical revolution
Greatest Recordings
Our recommendations of essential additions to your listening library
Death and the Maiden: Schubert's harrowing string quartet and most emotive recordings
Erik Levi picks out the finest recordings of Schubert's Death and the Maiden, a piece in which the Austrian composer plumbs the very depths of despair
Stravinsky Rite of Spring: the work that shattered classical music tradition
We explore Stravinsky's groundbreaking ballet The Rite of Spring and its seminal place in music history, before picking out some very best recordings
Winterreise: the tale of Schubert's brilliantly bleak song cycle - and four great recordings
Michael Tanner sets out on one of the bleakest and loneliest journeys in classical music, as he selects the finest recordings of Schubert's harrowing song-cycle, Winterreise
Mahler Symphony 5: a guide to this journey from darkness to triumph, and its best recordings
We name the greatest recordings of Mahler's legendary Fifth Symphony
Albums of the week
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
Review: Shawn E Okpebholo 'Songs in Flight'
Shawn E Okpebholo’s new song cycle is an outstanding response to America’s painful past and
gets to the heart of real lives exploited by slavery, says Kate Wakeling in her review
Review: Inmost Heart (Samson Tsoy)
In his review, Michael Church is left spellbound by Samson Tsoy’s artistry at the keyboard in this glorious show of reinterpreted works
Review: Debussy – String Quartet in G minor etc (Nash)
The Nash Ensemble are immaculate in this new vintage recording of sparkling quartets and sonatas by Debussy, says Suzanne Rolt in her review
Audio equipment reviews and advice
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
Listening room inspiration: how you can create the ultimate music sanctuary at home
Easy chair, hi-fi, vinyl displays: here's how to furnish your own listening paradise
90s nostalgia or just great sound? Why CD players are making a comeback
Listen in luxury 2025: the best high-end headphones on the market
Our audio expert Chris Haslam tests options for luxurious listening in private