The year was 1992. The USSR had split apart and the Cold War had ended - albeit temporarily. In the UK, the Conservative Party under John Major won a fourth term, while the Queen's Ruby Jubilee could not brighten an otherwise 'annus horribilis'. But a far more notable event was on the horizon in September, the first issue of BBC Music Magazine was published.
During the 30 years since that auspicious landmark, the world has changed almost beyond recognition - politically, culturally and by way of the all-encompassing digital revolution. In pop music, all but the most tenacious of artists have faded to make way for a new generation of polished stars, and the classical world, too, has borne witness to exciting new trends - not least in the acceptance of period performance as a mainstream idea (see our interview with Roger Norrington, p44).
But what have been the landmark classical recordings of those 30 years? To try to answer that question, we've asked 30 of our reviewers to name their standout recording - the album that raised the bar technically or musically, introduced us to fascinating new works or presented a new way of understanding well-loved repertoire. No easy task, the exercise has, we think, produced a wonderful tribute to the passion and inventiveness of the classical music world over the past 30 years...
Gounod Mors et Vita
This story is from the September 2022 edition of BBC Music Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2022 edition of BBC Music Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Look back in anguish
Despite Korngold's denials, there is much to suggest that his Symphony in F sharp is a grim depiction of the dark days of Nazism, argues Jessica Duchen
Come again?
If something is worth hearing once it's worth hearing again, explains Rebecca Franks, who charts a history of the use of echoes in music
THE BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
Music by women and composers of colour is not a separate set of pieces from the ones we know
A brilliant melting pot of discoverable works
Erik Levi enjoys Patricia Kopatchinskaja and friends' eloquent performances of lesser-known works by exiled composers
Pierre Boulez
Tom Stewart celebrates a composer, conductor and musical iconoclast for whom breaking from tradition was not an option but a must
Vienna's cacophonous concert ends to the sound of slapping
‘Fighting at a Schoenberg concert.
Molto humoroso
Cartoonist and broadcaster Gerard Hoffnung lampooned the world of classical music with splendid affection and wit, writes Andrew Green
There and back again
With retrospectives on album and in concert this month, Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore reflects on his years in Middle-earth and tells Michael Beek why he has a lot to thank the LPO for...
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Pick a theme... and name your seven favourite examples
Composer-conductor Odaline de la Martinez prizes tempo, swing and bounce in her top rhythmic works
Crystal clear with plenty of punch
The great is, they say, the enemy of the good, and that is certainly the case with David Sanger’s interpretation of Vierne’s Organ Symphony No. 1, which stands head and shoulders above a strong field of alternative versions.
