Issue May 2018 - 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.

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IN THIS ISSUETHIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORSDavid Nice Writer and critic ‘Bernard Haitink’s Mahler Three is a worthy Recording of the Year. He was glowing about the disc and the unique qualities of the work when I met him at his Lucerne conducting masterclasses in March.’ Page 26 Clemency Burton-Hill Broadcaster and writer ‘There was a carnival atmosphere at Broadcasting House recently when four winners of BBC Young Musician gathered to share hair-raising tales, compelling insights and belly-laughs aplenty.’ Page 44 Stephen Johnson Author, writer and broadcaster ‘Why does the enigmatic, troubling drama of Wagner’s early operatic masterpiece The Flying Dutchman stir so deeply? It’s that powerful, probing music that swings it. And what splendid tunes!’ Page 68…1 min

IN THIS ISSUEWelcomeIt’s hard to believe that BBC Young Musician is 40 years old – a TV phenomenon that has not only spawned the careers of dozens of fine talents, but has proved time and time again that competitions make for compulsive viewing. Who wasn’t quite literally on the edge of their seats when cellist Guy Johnston’s A-string went ping in 2000? Or, in 1990, when the then 16-year-old Leon McCawley battled heroically through Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto? There’s little doubt that BBC Young Musician presents the ultimate challenge to any performer, let alone teenagers. Cameras, lights, live audiences by the millions, presenters, post-performance interviews – it’s enough to send a shiver down the spine of any mortal. To celebrate BBCYM’s milestone, we gathered four past winners together in a room at…1 min

EVERY MONTHHave your say…Poulenc at large David Owen Norris makes no reference to the orchestrated version of Poulenc’s Flute Sonata in his Building a Library feature (April). James Galway once suggested to Robin Boyle, the then-MD of Chester Music, that the Sonata should be made into a quasi-concerto and I was sent along to the Berkeley residence to attend a meeting between composer Lennox Berkeley and Galway himself. Berkeley was reluctant at first to accept the commission as he felt that the pianistic nature of the writing would not translate into orchestral sound. Galway exercised his Irish charm and knowledge of orchestration so that eventually Berkeley relented and produced a transcription which captures the spirit of the piece with sensual orchestration for the middle movement and Stravinsky-like precision in the last. Galway recorded…4 min

EVERY MONTHLETTER of the MONTHWe’re all individuals ‘Every orchestra in the world has its own sound,’ an eminent London orchestral player wrote in a recent issue of BBC Music Magazine – a trope that is often reflected in your reviewers’ comments. I remain sceptical. French and Russian orchestras sometimes used to be recognisable from their distinctive woodwind or brass timbres, but today does each of the leading orchestras of, say, Berlin New York or Vienna really have its ‘own sound’, transcending individual conductors’ interpretations? If so, then it should be possible to identify them from recordings of the same works, in a kind of aural ‘blind tasting’. How about it, reviewers – are you up for it? Derek Robinson, Wirksworth The editor replies: Back in April 2008, we invited five leading opera critics to…1 min

EVERY MONTHSamantha Hankey soars to Glyndebourne gloryGlyndebourne Opera Cup The winning singers First Prize and Media Prize: Samantha Hankey (mezzo; US) Second Prize: Jacquelyn Stucker (soprano; US) Third Prize and Audience Prize: Elbenita Kajtazi (soprano; Kosovo) Prize for Most Promising Talent: Emily Pogorelc (soprano; US)Samantha Hankey has been named as the first ever winner of the Glyndebourne Opera Cup. In the final of the new competition, staged at the famous Sussex opera house, the mezzo-soprano from Massachusetts impressed a jury from across Europe and the US with her performances of arias from Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and La finta giardiniera, earning herself a prize of £15,000 and the guarantee of a major role at one of the leading opera houses that are formally associated with the competition. Hankey was one of ten finalists, all of…3 min

EVERY MONTHRising StarsLayale Chaker Violinist and composer Born: Paris, France Career highlight: The commission for a work for violin and orchestra I received from Bayreuther Philharmoniker. I’m looking forward to its first performances! Musical hero: Composer Nadia Boulanger, as her legacy lives not only in her creations but in the countless musical souls she has taught, influenced and guided. Dream concert: I’m not worried where it is held, but I would want a genuine connection with an audience, strong enough for it to live beyond the concert and make it into the hall of fame of memorable musical moments! Tamás Pálfalvi Trumpeter Born: Salgótarján, Hungary Career highlight: Performing last year with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko at Hollywood Bowl in front of over 10,000 people was unforgettable. Musical…1 min

Issue May 2018 - BBC Music Magazine (2024)

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