EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Te l : +44 (0)117 300 8752 Email: music@classica l-music.com Post: The editor, BBC Music Magazine, Eagle House, Bristol BS1 4ST SUBSCRIPTIONS & BACK ISSUES Te l : 03330 162 118 Web: buysubscriptions.com/contactus Post: BBC Music Magazine, PO Box 3320, 3 Queensbridge, Northampton Follow us on Twitter @musicmagazine Like us on Facebook facebook.com/ classicalmagazine Find us online classical-music.com Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe today to BBC Music Magazine Save money on newsstand prices! See p10 for our fanta st ic of fe r We l c om e ‘I need the great window of the stage – here I am at ease.’ Giacomo Puccini’s admission in a letter to a friend might very well have been spoken by Angela Gheorghiu, one of t he world’s leading operatic talents, whose largert han-life persona l it y was a lways destined for stardom. And it ’s no coincidence that Gheorghiu has become associated with Puccini’s great heroines throughout her 30-year career, f rom Tosca to Mimì to But ter f ly. To mark a century since the composer’s death, however, she turns instead to recording his lesser-known songs – works, she tel l s Christopher Cook on page 26, t hat explore t he range of human emotion wit h a l l t he t r ut h and power of his famous stage masterpieces. If ar t imitates l i fe wit h cinematic inten sit y in t he operas of Puccini, the life of Leonard Bernstein has been explored with equal sincerity in a new f ilm about the composer-conductor, out now on Netf lix. Starring Bradley Cooper, who also directs, Maestro concentrates la rgely on the relationship between Bernstein and his wife Felicia. But his g lor ious music forms t he f i lm’s backdrop and Cooper has done much to capt ure fa it hf ul ly his ta lent and humanity. On page 46 Michael Beek speaks to Bernstein’s daughter Jamie and to Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who not only conducted the f ilm’s soundtrack but also acted as Cooper’s music adv i sor dur ing pr incipa l photog raphy. Charlotte Smith Editor THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS Christopher Cook Writer, broadcaster & lecturer ‘Talking to Angela Gheorghiu about her new recording, I was struck by her capacity to surprise – with these of ten forgotten Puccini songs, of course, but also her hints about growing up in communist Romania.’ Page 26 Michael White Author, critic & broadcaster ‘To those of us who live down south, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra are a wonder more of ten heard through recordings that in the flesh. But their 50th anniversary offers a chance to catch up with them at a key point in their histor y.’ Page 52 Nick Shave Journalist and author ‘I recently found myself stopping mid-commute in a London Underground station to record the sounds of a rush hour. Writing about John Cage can have that kind of effect on you: his ideas are totally liberating.’ Page 62 BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE 3