Beeb's classical magazine (BBC Music)

Name: cswann

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Product:	BBC Music
Date:	08/03/01 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good free CDs, good reviews section

Disadvantages: A bit educatonal in tone at times

I picked up this magazine for the first time when I saw that the March issue had a decent free CD with it.
I say 'free' CD, but as with most of these magazines, it's not cheap, at £3.99, so you pay for the CD freebies in the end anyway. Having said that, it's good value, even if you're only interested in the CD, and the magazine itself is a good read, packed with information and reviews.

"The essential guide to classical music" is what it claims on the front cover, and I'd say it's a pretty authoritative magazine - a quality publication, the classical equivalent to Q or Mojo.

As it's from the Beeb, I wasn't surprised to find that it does have slight leanings towards the high-brown side of things, and there is a definite bias towards publicising Radio 3, with many tie-in features and regular articles from some of the station's presenters.
Some of the articles were perhaps a little too history-based for me - I go more for music criticism and appreciation, so I gave the article on Czech 19th century politics and music a wide berth. The regular sections are excellent, though. The reviews of CDs are very helpful, with most getting separate ratings for musical performance and for sound quality. In addition, if a recording has, say, 2 different recordings (different composers / artists) on it, and they merit a different rating, that's noted too. I did notice that a very high proportion of the CD's reviewed receive the top 5 star rating, however - I would have expected less of these, but maybe most of the classical music that's released nowadays really is that good. But, you know, it was a bit like looking at the reviews in the dooyoo albums section - you start to take a 5 star review with a pinch of salt.
There's a brief 2-page selection of jazz new releases, too.

I was pleased to see some equipment reviews in the Audio section - budget CD players, for around £1
00, in the March issue. I take back what I said about the magazine being high-brow!

The big bonus is of course the free CD's - mine was Sullivan pieces, (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) not the kind of thing that's easy to come by, and very good it is too. Certainly well worth paying the price of the magazine.

"BBC Music" is definitely for the reader (or listener) who's already into classical music - I would say in general that it won't have a lot to interest someone who only wants to dip into popular classical pieces that they know from the TV adverts. But neither would I say it's just for the music snobs. So, if you're willing to experiment a little, why not try it out?
Me, I don't know a lot about classical music, but am interested in broadening my horizons, and "BBC Music"s helped me to do that.
I'm certainly going to buy the magazine again.

Summary: