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Published: Wednesday, 24 January 2024 at 09:53 AM


In the February 2024 issue of BBC Music Magazine we are launching the annual BBC Music Magazine Awards, revealing all this year’s nominated recordings. You can vote for this year’s winners by visiting classical-music.com/awards.

For our cover story, we’re celebrating all things Gershwin as this year marks the centenary of the great composer’s Rhapsody in Blue. Mervyn Cooke tells the story of how Gershwin brought together the worlds of jazz and classical in this revolutionary work that took the world by storm.

To tie in with the Gershwin theme, we’re also looking at the multi-talented pianist Oscar Levant, whoo was one of the great performers of Gershwin’s music.

Elsewhere in the issue, Claire Jackson examines the phemomenon of musical siblings and the talents of the likes of the Mozarts and the Mendelssohns, while Jessica Duchen assesses the state of play with regards to the number of female conductors working on today’s stages.

The BBC Music Magazine Interview this month is with Robert von Bahr, founder of the trailblazing BIS Records. The devillishly talented Giuseppe Tartini is our Composer of the Month, and in Building a Library we explore the best recordings of Vaughan Williams‘s Five Mystical Songs.

On your free cover CD this month are a range of orchestral works by Gershwin and John Adams.