What classical music magazines do you read?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I read "Gramophone" and "Pianist" every issue and sometimes the BBC magazine. I used to read Classical Music fortnightly, but it has disappeared from the newstands round here. I know, I could take out a subscription, but I prefer to support local newsagents.
My son reads "The Strad" (but he doesn't own one).

"Pianist" is my favourite, as it contains music to try. Some of it quite challenging and often interesting, and there is a cover CD. It's a bi-monthly publication, which is fine.

[Chris Newman]

I used to read "Opera" in Harold Rosenthal's day but it has become very expensive and thin compared with the breadth of information in his time. I gave up the Gramophone about ten years ago when I realised that it's reviews rather resembled the adverts and that the editorial material was very sparse.

I have a subscription to BBC Music Magazine but mostly for the CD which is often first class. Classical Music is good but only occasionally on the shelves in my local WHSmith's.

[Mark Sealey]

In addition to Gramophone and BBCMM (with both of which I'm increasingly dissatisfied), I subscribe to OUP's Early Music and Rhinegold's Classical Music.

If only IRR weren't so expensive to get here.

[Norfolk Born]

I buy the BBC Music magazine if I want the CD.

[Spatny]

Only subscribed to the BBC MM, I have ditched the rest ( gramophone and dare I say it Classic FM) I have a regular round of visits to certain websites to catch up with news

[John Wright]

I used to be a regular subscriber to the BBC magazine, always enjoyed the araticles, and most the CDs. There must be 100-150 on the shelves here. Always thought there were too many pages on CD reviews. For some reason my subscription stopped last year and I just didn't start it up again.

As a collector of older recorded music (not just classical) I still subscribe to the recently renamed Classical Recordings Quarterly.

[Roehre]

I used to be a subscriber of Classic CD, but following its demise I got BBC MM in stead automatically.
IRR, PhonoPhorum, Le Monde musical, Luister are among the magazines which are regularly bought.

[Uncle Monty]

I took The Strad for years, until I moved house and found I couldn't even lift the boxes of the things without risking six months in traction, and thought "This is ridiculous"! (Anyone want some? Bring your own van )

I also used to get the bilingual early music magazine Goldberg when I saw it, but I see that it is dormant as from late 2008: I'm not entirely surprised, as it was too good (too glossy, too expensive, too wonderful) for its own good, as it were!

I've also at various times subscribed to BBC MM, Gramophone and Classic CD. Oh, all right, and ClassicFM sometimes

I suppose I get most of this kind of thing from the net these days, though I'll buy a mag if it has something particularly interesting (to me), e.g. a cd with some RVW on it, as I have my reputation as the world's leading RVW hoarder to consider :cool2:

[338]

I have been a buyer of Gramophone since the early sixties but only a subscriber for the last four years or so.I am finding I am only glancing at the magazine very briefly now.It is only sentiment that stops me cancelling my subscription.I have all my backissues up in the loft and recently I have decided to gradually bring them downstairs and put them in the garage before taking them to the dump for recycling.Before I put them in the garage I started to look through them and was immediately struck by how much better the magazine was in the past.Not only were the music reviews very much longer and readable but the equipment and technical articles were extremely interesting.1973 and 1983/4 were among the first issues i looked at and in the 1983/4 issues were all the news about the start of CD machines and discs.I was suprised to read a review on CD of Shostakovich's 10th symphony that was very dismissive of the actual music-lightweight was what it implied I think.Very different from todays attitude I believe.It may take me a lot longer than I first thought to actually take the magazunes to the dump!

[MickyD]

I have just dropped Gramophone after 30 years (see the other thread on this forum) and started subscribing to IRR a month ago. It is wonderfully refreshing to have a magazine with hardly any ads and just good, detailed and well-written reviews - I should have changed years ago. But where do you live, M Sealey, to say that it is expensive? My subscription to IRR in Europe is pretty much the same as Gramophone's price.

[Jonathan]

I subscribe to International Piano and have done since it started out in about 1992 as International Piano Quarterly. It's no longer quarterly and I think it's gone downhill recently. I only buy BBCMusic if I want the cover CD which hasn't happened for ages. The others I skim in the shop to see if they say anything useful about a recording i might be interested in buying at a later date.