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.

What lies behind the albums we celebrate • Founded in 1923 by Sir Compton Mackenzie and Christopher Stone as ‘an organ of candid opinion for the numerous possessors of gramophones’

Gramophone Magazine • Volume 103 Number 1264

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

FOR THE RECORD

Vsevolod Zavidov Pianist

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

Toccata Classics • In our latest guide to a classical record label, Tim Parry explores the catalogue of a fearless British imprint with a missionary zeal

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

Peter Whelan • The conductor on recreating the atmosphere of Messiah’s premiere

Symphony No 2 • David Threasher explores the history on record of an often-overlooked 20th-century symphony

Bass-baritone José van Dam has died

New music novels

If you want it done, do it yourself … • As Iain Bell’s latest opera enters rehearsals for its premiere at Brussels’s La Monnaie, James Jolly met up with the composer and discovered a self-confessed maverick

Letter of the Month

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

OBITUARIES

NEXT MONTH MAY 2026

A passion for records • John Wilson tells Mark Pullinger about his love of recording, his conducting philosophy – and the projects planned for his Sinfonia of London

Journey’s end • Having concluded his Czech Philharmonic Mahler symphony cycle for Pentatone, conductor Semyon Bychkov tells James Jolly about his history with the composer, and he talks about the last symphony to be recorded – the Eighth

The life and times of Hervé Niquet • As Le Concert Spirituel gears up for its 40th anniversary, David Vickers hears from Hervé Niquet about inquisitive digging into eclectic repertoires, and finding new approaches

RECORDING OF THE MONTH • A third major choral masterpiece by Bach finds Raphaël Pichon and his Pygmalion ensemble still at the height of their powers, writes Jonathan Freeman-Attwood

Orchestral

Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata • Emmanuelle Bertrand talks to Richard Bratby about discovering the meaning in this work

Chamber

GRAMOPHONE Collector FIVE BY FIVE BY FIVE • Andrew Farach‑Colton listens to five new albums by five groups of five wind players

THE WORLD‘S BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS

Peter Schreier • Richard Wigmore pays homage to the German tenor who was renowned in Bach and Mozart, and was one of the finest Lieder singers of his generation

Instrumental

Eric Whitacre • He’s acclaimed for his choral works, which have always had experimental elements and unexpected qualities, says James McCarthy

Vocal

ONLINE CONCERTS & EVENTS • Andrew Mellor tunes in to some online viewing

Opera

REISSUES & ARCHIVE • Our monthly guide to the most exciting catalogue releases, historic issues and box-sets

Karajan live in Berlin...