BBC Music Magazine

I just bought Music magazine for the 3d time in a couple of years, mostly for the cover CD - since I don't have much spare time to read the mag (or to go through the CD-ROM program, for that matter). You never know how good the recording will be but for less than 10 bucks it's worth a shot.

In the first two, I got a so-so M1 and some really fine Saint-Saëns. On the April issue, however, I got the worst M4 I've heard, with Valdine Anderson (whuzzit?) / BBC Scottish SO / Ion Marin. And some arias sung by Roberto Alagna (big deal).

For frequent buyers of the magazine: do you think that, in general terms, the cover CD is worth the expense and shelf space and that I can keep my expectations high next time I buy it, or should I just accept the fact that, most often than not, the CD's quality will match its low price?

I'm an occasional buyer when there's repertoire that interests me. I'd never buy the magazine for the sake of the magazine, but generally I must say that the CDs have been well worth super-budget price. One shouldn't expect a 100% hit rate of course - but then I've had equally mixed fortunes at full price!

The only issue I've bought was their special Conductors issue a few years ago. A Toscanini LvB 3 (and something else) was attached, which I promptly traded away.

Agree; dreadful.

I would go beyond 'big deal'; this is awful singing. I guess he married well....

Some of their discs are crap, many tolerably mediocre. A few are at least good, and some of those are excellent (e.g. Vanska's Mendelssohn 3 and Karneus's Nuits d'Ete). So it's rather a gamble. Do you like to gamble?

In germany was some month a german translation of the BBC magazin. i bought it but found it not conclusive ( hope this the right word). Locking to Naxos monthly output (10,-DM) and reading the cpo monthly special offers - i had never enough money to buy all of this, why should someone make a blind fly?

When I subscribed to the magazine for $19.99 a year, I was more than happy with the quality of the discs, and of the magazine for that matter. I don't think either are worth much more than that - their occasional CD gems can usually be tracked down at the used CD shops.

Marc Perman

The BBC music magazine is pot luck basically. Some recordings and performances are excellent, most are acceptable and more than a good few end up being awful. So awful they get put out after the graveyard slot at 4am. That said, it is worth looking around to see if you can find the magazine on subscription. There is no point paying full price for a couple of issues if there is some way of getting a years worth on a special offer. However, despite it being a good introduction to classical music I do get the impression that many readers of it move on after a few years to something more in deapth and selective.

If it'll help you decide at all, I've seen more than one copy of the CDs from BBC Music Mag. at a local used CD emporium. If you don't like the particular CD, you don't have to feel bad about trading them in for CDs that you'd really like. You may not get a lot of trade credit for it, but the cleared shelf space for a good CD is worth it. Besides, with the BBC Music Mag. CDs, half the fun is the information on the CD-ROM portion.

Cheers,

George Yeh Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, MO

I've been a subscriber for many years (and, as another post mentioned, the price comes down considerably.) It has beem well worth it and there have been many excellent cover CDs.

Several that come to mind are a terrific completed Mahler 10, two symphonies by Tippett conducted by the composer, the two Walton symphonies (on two separate monthly disks, the 2nd coupled with the Sibelius 2nd), a Yehudi Menuhin 1943 BBC archive performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto (with Boult conducting), a disk of renaissance love songs, a fun disk of Malcolm Sargent conducting the 'Last Night of the Proms' in 1961, and, finally, the complete 1995 radio broadcast with Anthony Payne discussing and playing orchestral portions (and piano reductions) of Elgar's Symphony No. 3 sketches. This broadcast eventually led to the completion of this wonderful (in my opinion) work. Many of these disks thus contain 'one-of-a-kind' items unavailable anywhere else.

even if you don't like the performances the mag is still a way of becoming aware of new music and performances.

I've only got a couple of their CDs. I have the Mahler 10 and the recent issue with Nielsen's 'Inextinguishable'. Both CDs were my hearings of those works.

I do wish that they could offer some works by their 'composer of the month.' This latest mag I bought featured Rubbra. A symphony by Rubbra would have been a great supplement to their article. oh well. I'm grateful for what they do put on the CD in any case.