# Classical music magazines



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Which ones do you get? I've being getting Gramaphone and the BBC music mag for a while, mainly because the Beeb give a free disc with theirs. But this month they jumped the shark in non-humourous humour. Their 50 most influential list. 

Do you purchase any music mags?


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I used to get the BBC Mag. Eventually decided that it was too provincial.


----------



## Guest (Jan 20, 2013)

Gramophone, American Record Review, and Fanfare. I used to subscribe to International Record Review, but I didn't care for their focus on re-issues and vocal music. It's considerably less glitzy than most of the other UK publications, however.


----------



## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Hilltroll72 said:


> I used to get the BBC Mag. Eventually decided that it was too provincial.


I'm not sure what you mean by this statement. Are you saying that it's too "British" for your tastes because the use of the word provincial does not really seem to make sense to me.

I subscribe and collect BBC Music Magazine as I think it is the best classical music magazine out there for English speaking people. I occasionally will pick up Gramophone at the newsstand if there is something of interest but these days I find Gramophone sorely lacking in good articles. In the 70s and 80s it was my favorite. There used to be a fairly good US magazine called Ovation in the 80s but sadly they went under. I used to subscribe to Listen as well but their scope of coverage is not very broad.

I think BBC Music is attractively laid out and I enjoy getting the monthly CD but it's the reviews that get a lot of my attention. I have found that, in general, albums that they give 4 or 5 stars to are worthy of the rating and ones I could purchase with some confidence. I occasionally disagree with some of their ratings but not often.

Kevin


----------



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

what kind of CDs do they give?


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Sonata said:


> what kind of CDs do they give?


Hi Sonata!

This month it's a Mozart CD, last month it was Britten's War Requiem. It's a good way to get works that I'm not familiar with... :tiphat:


----------



## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Sonata said:


> what kind of CDs do they give?


Most of them are BBC produced recordings of broadcasts. Some are commissioned studio recordings and some are rare recordings from the BBC archives. Sometimes their release becomes one of my favorite versions of pieces. One that comes immediately to mind is a recording of Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn chamber pieces. They used to come in a plastic single CD case but now in a clear plastic sleeve so I put them in my own cases every month now.

Kevin


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Kevin Pearson said:


> They used to come in a plastic single CD case but now in a clear plastic sleeve so I put them in my own cases every month now.
> 
> Kevin


That's interesting, Kevin: mine still comes in a plastic CD case. I purchase in Ireland, so maybe when they ship to the US they dispense with the CD case...


----------



## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Kevin Pearson said:


> Most of them are BBC produced recordings of broadcasts. Some are commissioned studio recordings and some are rare recordings from the BBC archives. Sometimes their release becomes one of my favorite versions of pieces. One that comes immediately to mind is a recording of Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn chamber pieces. They used to come in a plastic single CD case but now in a clear plastic sleeve so I put them in my own cases every month now.
> 
> Kevin


Yea...I think they eliminate the case in US to save on shipping costs. I have plenty of slimline cases so it makes no difference to me. I also wonder if you get the typical larger size magazine format so common to many British publications. I have the first six issues ever published of the magazine and they are all about one inch taller and about 1/2 inch wider. I'm not sure if the British version still comes that large or if they changed to the smaller typical American size issue beginning with March 1993 because all my issues after that are the smaller size.

Kevin


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I wouldn't know that because I have no old issues to compare them to, but my issue is the same size as Gramaphone magazine.

I enjoy certain aspects of the BBC mag, but this month's 50 most influential was largely silly, where it might have been more informative. Charlotte Church and Stalin were examples of warped humour, no?

However, I think in general it's a good magazine...


----------



## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Kieran said:


> I wouldn't know that because I have no old issues to compare them to, but my issue is the same size as Gramaphone magazine.
> 
> I enjoy certain aspects of the BBC mag, but this month's 50 most influential was largely silly, where it might have been more informative. Charlotte Church and Stalin were examples of warped humour, no?
> 
> However, I think in general it's a good magazine...


At the newsstand most UK magazines are the 11 3/4 inch by 9 inches but American magazines are usually 10 3/4 inches by 8 1/2. Barnes and Noble imports several UK magazines in the Entertainment section especially and most UK magazines cost more, because they are imported, but are the size dimensions I specified.

Kevin


----------

