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.

Stepping outside our usual musical experiences • 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 • Volume 103 Number 1255

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

FOR THE RECORD • Pianist Aristo Sham wins Cliburn Competition

ONE TO WATCH

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

Resonus Classics • In the latest guide to a classical record label, Tim Parry celebrates the work of an adventurous British label

Classical music honours

Celebrating the LPO

Marking a milestone

Missa pro defunctis ‘Requiem’ • Alexandra Coghlan explores the recordings of a substantial six-part Renaissance Mass for the Dead

Alfred Brendel 1931-2025 • Harriet Smith pays tribute to one of the finest musicians of the second half of the 20th century, an influential pianist and writer who combined intellect with humanity and humour

Keeping a family firm in the family • As the CRD label enters its second half century with renewed vigour, James Jolly met up with the next generation of the founder’s family, Emma and Tom Pauncefort

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

Letter of the Month

OBITUARIES

NEXT MONTH SEPTEMBER 2025

ELECTRICAL RECORDING at 100 • It’s a century since the most significant step was taken in how music was preserved for posterity – Rob Cowan looks back to that pivotal point, and to the difference it made to artists and listeners alike

Celebrating BACEWICZ • Grażyna Bacewicz’s music is finally coming to public attention, and here, Marina Frolova-Walker helps things along a little by providing a brief guide to the life and rewarding works of this intriguing 20th-century Polish composer

BACEWICZ: a podium perspective • Sakari Oramo, whose second volume of Bacewicz orchestral music is newly released on Chandos, reflects on what the composer’s music means to him and to his orchestral players

Creativity and strength • Gabriela Ortiz’s music may reflect her Mexican heritage, but its resonance and relevance go far beyond that, as Andrew Mellor discovers when he talks to the composer

RECORDING OF THE MONTH • Peter J Rabinowitz welcomes a survey of Martinů’s cello-and-piano music from a young duo who bring insight and verve to these distinctive works

Orchestral • Click album covers to buy CDs and downloads or to stream all our featured recordings

Shostakovich’s String Quartet No 8 • Casals Quartet players tell Richard Bratby about tackling the composer’s best-known quartet

Chamber

Ralph Kirkpatrick • Philip Kennicott pays tribute to the American harpsichordist and musicologist whose detailed work on the life and music of Scarlatti is just one of many lasting achievements

Instrumental

BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATAS • Jed Distler surveys a range of recent releases of this eternal repertoire from both established...