Gramophone Magazine

Gramophone enriches your classical music experience and connects you with great recordings. Packed with features across all classical music genres, our globally acclaimed writers will inform and entertain you with independent and intelligent editorial and more than 150 reviews in every issue. Our reputation is founded on our acclaimed critical analyses of the latest CD releases, in-depth features and interviews with classical stars, and our comprehensive coverage of recorded and live music. Please Note: This price excludes VAT which will be added when you checkout.

Setting off on a new series of explorations • Founded in 1923 by Sir Compton Mackenzie and Christopher Stone as ‘an organ of candid opinion for the numerous possessors of gramophones’

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

Gramophone Magazine

Editor’s Choice • Martin Cullingford’s pick of the finest recordings from this month’s reviews

FOR THE RECORD

ONE TO WATCH

Online • The magazine is just the beginning. Visit gramophone.co.uk for …

Signum Records • In the latest guide to a classical record label, Tim Parry traces the origins and history of a popular British company

IN THE NEW EDITION OF CHOIR & ORGAN • Editor Hattie Butterworth introduces the Spring issue of Gramophone’s sister title

NEXT MONTH APRIL 2025

Lontano • In the first of a new series exploring the history and recordings of less familiar works, Fabrice Fitch introduces a Modernist masterpiece

Rebuild it and they will come • A return to Southern California finds James Jolly in awe of the $125 million refurbishment of the downtown home of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra

John Shirley-Quirk remembered

NOTES & LETTERS • Write to us at St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB or gramophone@markallengroup.com; email is preferable at this

Unravelling RAVEL • To mark the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth, Mark Pullinger conjures a portrait of this multifaceted composer through his exquisitely crafted works

FIVE ESSENTIAL RECORDINGS • Encompassing all four facets of Ravel under discussion here

The world of yesterday … today & FOR EVER • As Stephen Hough releases his recording of his own piano concerto, he shares the story of the work’s genesis with James Jolly, and reveals the growing importance of composition in his life

An enduring VOICE • As The Sixteen prepare for their 25th annual Choral Pilgrimage, Hattie Butterworth hears from conductor Harry Christophers about how the project has developed over the years, about nurturing potential ensemble singers of the future and about leadership with a familial feel

RECORDING OF THE MONTH • Charlotte Gardner greets a luminous account of Paganini’s Caprices from María Dueñas, performances of lyrical imagination, golden tone and quicksilver technique

Orchestral

GRAMOPHONE Focus BRUCKNER FROM BEIJING • Christian Hoskins reports on a distinctive new cycle of the Austrian’s symphonies from China’s NCPA Orchestra with their conductor Jia Lü

Boulez’s Second Piano Sonata • Tamara Stefanovich talks to Peter Quantrill about the Beethovenian qualities of heroism and resistance in this landmark work of the post-war avant-garde

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF ONDINE

Chamber

Heather Harper • Michael McManus celebrates the beloved and highly respected soprano who collaborated closely with Britten, retained her vocal ability into her sixties and never forgot her Belfast roots

Instrumental

Charlotte Bray • Richard Whitehouse introduces the varied output of the strong-voiced, Berlin-based British composer who started writing music in her early twenties

RECORDINGS OF BRAY • Confirming her status as a leading British...