BBC Music vs Gramophone

[Don]

Fortunate... I feel like some kind of environmental criminal throwing the CD out each issue (the cases get saved for future use).

I also give my daughter most of the BBC Music CDs; at least they contain complete works.

[vandermolen]

I's the same people.

There seems to be a 'pool' of music critics able to be called upon to review a stack of CDs on a monthly basis by the BBC Magazine as well as the Saturday CD Review (no pictures but expansive examples from the disc under review and, often, the whole record!), Gramophone and IRR. I cannot speak about Classic FM because I have never read it neither do I listen to it (there is a limit to the number of 'Great Bleeding Chunks' I can take in a sitting).

If one is so keen on reading other peoples opinion, albeit professional, then subscribe to all of them or, better still, pop down to your local WH Smiths and read them off the rack. A lot of people do this and annoy people like me who cannot reach past them for a copy of 'Asian Babes'( apparently, I'm not the only subsciber to this board that has a predilection for this artwork).

[eyeresist]

Exactly. Twenty, thirty years ago a new issue of Gramophone would be a three day project. The issues published this century I can usually polish off in less than an hour.

I just want to clarify that I probably could finish the G in less than two hours, but as I said, it's a lunch time, and my ideal lazy Saturday or Sunday read is over a good Chinese at the Happy Chef, then waddle over the road to Kelly's Irish pub to continue with a pint (or two) of Bulmer's. The finer things take time 
 

[ChamberNut]

I'm also considering a subscription to one of these.  Seems Fanfare is the favorite among GMGers over BBC and Gramophone?

[Don]

I'm also considering a subscription to one of these.  Seems Fanfare is the favorite among GMGers over BBC and Gramophone?

Yes, among English-speaking review mags, Fanfare is as good as it gets - many more reviews than either BBC or Gramophone and much more detail as well.  Also, unlike American Record Guide, there's no bias against period instrument performances.  Further, the subscription gives you a wealth of reviews and other material on their website.

[Solitary Wanderer]

throwing the CD out each issue (the cases get saved for future use).

FREE cd jewel case with every issue!!

[eyeresist]

I can't figure it out from their site - how many pages does an issue of Fanfare contain? (and how much is advertising?)

FREE cd jewel case with every issue!!

Not with the Gramophone 

[Solitary Wanderer]

Just recieved my first subscription issue of BBC Music in the post today.

At a very quick flip through it looks like there's many interesting things for me to read 

[hornteacher]

Just recieved my first subscription issue of BBC Music in the post today.

At a very quick flip through it looks like there's many interesting things for me to read 

Yep, I renewed my BBC Music for another year.

[mahler10th]

Mine hasn't arrived yet.

[MDL]

I can't figure it out from their site - how many pages does an issue of Fanfare contain? (and how much is advertising?)


Not with the Gramophone 

Huh?! There's always a free CD with Gramophone. I've got dozens of them piled up, mostly unwrapped, on my desk at work. Has somebody been pinching yours or do you live somewhere odd? 

[Bulldog]

I can't figure it out from their site - how many pages does an issue of Fanfare contain? (and how much is advertising?)

I've got the two most recent issues in my hands; each one has over 400 pages with about 15 pages of advertising.  Very impressive.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I've got the two most recent issues in my hands; each one has over 400 pages with about 15 pages of advertising.  Very impressive.

Yes, very impressive.

Oh, in case anyone doesn't know, Fanfare is issued every other month. Not monthly. (Ditto American Record Guide).

[knight66]

Whether or not you read the magazine or throw it straight into the bin; I do urge those who enjoy vocal music to buy the BBC mag this month. The CD is a recital by a singer new to me, a mezzo, well, almost a contralto, Christianne Stotun. She sings Brahms Alto Rhapsody, Mahler Ruckert Lieder and then a large group of piano accompanied Mahler songs. It is a distinctive dark voice with a pleasant inherent tremolo, not a wobble. She colours the voice and can put a smile in it. The top of the voice is white, she is at the upper reach during the top notes of Um mitternacht.

A bit of a find.

Mike

[Dundonnell]

I have been quite rude and certainly pretty dismissive of the BBC Music Magazine on this thread so it is only right and proper that I should concede that the November issue has an excellent article on Messiaen by Christopher Dingle and an extraordinarily valuable and interesting article on the composers and musicians killed in the First World War(talents like George Butterworth, Ernest Farrar and Cecil Coles from Britain but of course many from other countries too- I would like to know much more about the many young French, German, Austrian and Italian composers who must have perished between 1914 and 1918).

Roger Nichols contributes a perceptive study of Poulenc plus you do get that composer's Gloria, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Messiaen's L'Ascension in its orchestral incarnation on the bonus CD. Pretty good value, I have to admit!

[mn dave]

I've got the two most recent issues in my hands; each one has over 400 pages with about 15 pages of advertising.  Very impressive.

What do you think of Bayley, Don? (or anyone)

[Kuhlau]

... Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Messiaen's L'Ascension in its orchestral incarnation on the bonus CD.

I'd never heard the Stravinsky work before this month's BBC Music Magazine plopped onto my doormat, so it was something of a treat. Likewise, the orchestral version of L'Ascension - a work I heard in its form for solo organ at this year's BBC Proms. I have to admit I prefer it with more players.

FK

[Bulldog]

What do you think of Bayley, Don? (or anyone)

Sorry - I didn't notice your post until today.  I don't think very well of Bayley.  She has a habit of reviewing stuff she already knows she doesn't care for.  Jerry Dubins is quite a guy - how he reviews so many recordings every two months is beyond me.  Of course, it's possible he only listens to a new disc one or two times.  That wouldn't be acceptable to me.

[mn dave]

Sorry - I didn't notice your post until today.  I don't think very well of Bayley.  She has a habit of reviewing stuff she already knows she doesn't care for.  Jerry Dubins is quite a guy - how he reviews so many recordings every two months is beyond me.  Of course, it's possible he only listens to a new disc one or two times.  That wouldn't be acceptable to me.

Yeah, those two are wacky. 

[Bunny]

Well last year I wanted to subscribe to a Classical magazine but couldn't really decide between the two.  So I subscribed to both for a year intending to decide afterwards which one to keep.  Well its been a year and I'm still no wiser.  I haven't really noticed much of a difference between the two.  They usually cover the same things (although sometimes an issue earlier or later than the other one).  I need to renew soon but I'd rather not renew both.  Any opinions welcome on which magazine you prefer (or is there a better one out there)?

Cancel Gramophon!  As long as the magazines seem so similar, go with the one with the better cds.   The Gramophon CD is just flotsam and jetsam put together to provide the least value.  The BBC Music CD is a complete work of music that can be very, very good.