BBC Music Magazine – August 2021

In our September issue – on sale now – we meet Italian pianist Beatrice Rana, who discusses why she feels the time is finally right to master the works of Chopin. There are gems to be discovered in this month’s magazine, as we lift the lid on the life of Ravel and share rare insights into the life of the secretive composer. If the name Dan Godfrey is new to you, in this issue we introduce you to the fascinating but somewhat overlooked conductor who founded the ensemble that became the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and championed British music outside London. Plus, we explore the life and legacy of Komitas, the Armenian folk song collector and composer responsible for shaping the music of his home country and beyond.

Rob Ainsley steps back to the 1980s to tell the story of ‘Hooked on Classics’, the recording project that helped launch the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra into the pop charts and classical music into the mainstream. We also talk to eleven football-loving musicians about the tunes they’d like to see their teams run out to, with violinist Fenella Humphreys – a Brighton and Hove Albion supporter – pitching for Malcolm Arnold’s Sussex Overture – and soprano and Middlesbrough fan Rowan Pierce singing the praises of the Anvil Chorus from Verdi’s Il trovatore.
The BBC Music Magazine Interview this month is with the world-class Juilliard Quartet. Plus, Terry Blain takes a closer look at Richard Strauss’s Symphonia Domestica and names its best recordings, while Stephen Johnson analyses the overlooked qualities of Dvořák.