BBC Music Magazine Awards 2026: winners announced!
The wait is over... Here are the winners of the 21st annual BBC Music Magazine Awards, as voted by you!
Review: Poulenc: Sonatas (Pascal Rogé et al)
Poulenc’s light and shade is vividly brought into focus by performers including Pascal Rogé, notes Jo Talbot
BBC Proms 2026 listings: your day-by-day guide to the world's biggest classical music festival
Here is everything you need to know about the 2026 BBC Proms, featuring a jam-packed selection of classical music's best-loved performers and composers
Good vibrations: the impact of music on the road to recovery
Inside the creative journey of an artist and musician after a cancer diagnosis
Review: Schumann: Fantasie, etc (Nikolai Lugansky)
Nikolai Lugansky brings an orchestral richness to Robert Schumann, writes Jessica Duchen
Review: Cello works by Franck, Boulanger, Debussy et al
With its international festival and competition, Bucharest is one of Europe's most vibrant classical destinations
Rebecca Franks visits a city that despite economic hardships, welcomes the cream of the classical world to its leading festival and competition
Review: Russian Ballet Suites (Andrey Gugnin)
First ever Proms concert filmed for Apple Immersive
Filmed at the Royal Albert Hall during the 2025 Proms season, the technology brings viewers onto the stage and into the heart of the orchestra
Sophia Maria Westenholz: trailblazing 18th century pianist, singer, composer - and mother to eight children
Pianist Wu Qian tells the story of an extraordinary musician and composer who defied attitudes of the day to rise to the top of her profession
Meet the most fascinating figures from classical music
Piano ‘accompanists’ rarely get the recognition they so richly deserve
Agatha Christie: crime novelist and wannabe opera singer
Did legendary crime novelist Agatha Christie once harbour ambitions to become an opera singer? Andrew Green follows the clues…
Daniel Barenboim reveals the composer who's been his lifelong fascination
Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim talks about his deep relationship with Beethoven's music
The great composers
Explore the lives and works of classical music's finest composers
Grace Williams: the Welsh composer with steel in her soul
For long neglected outside her own nation, the Welsh composer is starting to enjoy her time in the sun again, explains Geraint Lewis
Steve Reich: the pioneering minimalist composer who brought tonality back to music
As he approaches 90, the US composer Steve Reich tells Tom Service about his pride in playing an important part in bringing tonality and pulse back to music
'Great'? These five composers are simply overrated
We invite five of our writers to reveal those whose feted talents leave them seriously underwhelmed
1907: the year Gustav Mahler lost everything... but found America
The composer Gustav Mahler suffered a series of personal and professional disasters in 1907. A move Stateside, however, resulted in a rapid upturn in his fortunes
Greatest Recordings
Our recommendations of essential additions to your listening library
Outliers: these 21 albums sound like nothing else their bands ever made
Some albums defy expectations. From Beatles to Neil Young, these outliers reveal bands daring to experiment... and sometimes bewildering their fans
Essential Christmas albums: 10 timeless recordings to get you in the Christmas spirit
What is the perfect music to get oneself into the festive spirit? We ask ten of our writers to name the albums they couldn’t imagine Yuletide without
These are the 31 greatest classical albums to start your collection
Our round-up of the best must-have performances of classical music. Update your collection with the great symphonies, choral works, operas, chamber and instrumental works
These are the 21 greatest prog rock albums of all time – ranked
Did King Crimson hit the prog heights for you? Or were Yes or Genesis at the top of the prog tree? We rank the 15 greatest prog albums of all time
Albums of the week
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
Review: Stravinsky: Late Works (Cappella Amsterdam, etc)
Malcolm Hayes is bowled over by Cappella Amsterdam’s exceptional clarity and control
Review: Bach: Goldberg Variations (Yunchan Lim)
Review: Mahler: Symphony No. 7 (NSO/Noseda)
Michael Jameson is wowed by Noseda’s interpretation of Mahler's madcap Seventh Symphony
Rock music
Explore rock music
27 rock icons with criminal records (OK, we cheated a bit with one of them)
Big hits, bad behaviour. Robin Askew introduces 15 rock legends with a rap sheet
Genesis: from weird prog rockers to stadium superstars, all 15 albums ranked
We rank every Genesis studio album, from their early prog masterpieces to the stadium filling pop-rock of the 1980s
Here are 17 great bands... and the albums where they went wrong
From The Byrds to Metallica, 17 albums that should’ve been masterpieces... but missed the mark in fascinating ways
Audio equipment reviews and advice
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
The '80s are back! The best portable cassette and CD players on the market today
Our Audio expert Chris Haslam gives his personal recommendation for buying a modern portable cassette or CD player
CDs are back! And these modern all-in-one CD players are the best way to listen to them
CDs are back! And these modern all-in-one CD players are the best way to listen to them, writes Chris Haslam
