You think you’ve got issues? Well, we’ve got 400 of them. Since September 1992, each month (plus, more recently, Christmas too) has been marked by the arrival of a new installment of BBC Music Magazine, with news, reviews, interviews, a cover CD of complete works… and much more. Staff and writers come and go, and BBC MM HQ has shunted from London to Bristol to various lockdown homes, but the essence of the magazine remains the same. If you have been with us from the outset, thank you! By way of a reminder – or, if you have joined us more recently, as an introduction – here is a look back at our journey so far, presented in eight installments…
Issue 1 September 1992
On the cover: Anne-Sophie Mutter
Cover CD: Tchaikovsky ‘Pathétique’ Symphony No. 6; Britten Sinfonia da Requiem
Review special: Glenn Gould Edition: Beethoven Complete Piano Concertos; JS Bach Keyboard Concertos, Goldberg Variations
‘Welcome to BBC Music Magazine, the first magazine to cover all areas of classical music,’ wrote editor Fiona Maddocks in our very first issue, before setting out the magazine’s intention to appeal to musical beginners and experts alike with a welcoming and unpretentious tone: ‘As one who has loved and studied music all my life, played chamber music and listened avidly to Radio 3, I am all too aware that there is ever more to learn – the expert in one area is a beginner in another. So, I hope this magazine will appeal both to the absolute newcomer and to those with years of musical experience behind them.’
True to her word, Maddocks’s September 1992by Yehudi Menuhin as his favourite Elgar Cello Concerto recording in our first , and the back page slot featured conductor Mark Elder (see p32). Yet to make an appearance was Recording of the Month – instead, a Review Special assessing the first three albums of Sony’s new Glenn Gould Edition proclaimed him ‘a very peculiar pianist’. And in place of offered up ‘four essential performances of the classical repertoire’ for new CD collectors.
