Gramophone Magazine

Our February 2026 issue features the great Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski on the cover, as he releases his new recording of solo piano music by Johannes Brahms, a highly personal selection from the composer’s magical pool of autumnal late piano pieces, Opp 116-119. Titled ‘1851’, the latest album from cellist Steven Isserlis – alongside the pianist Connie Shih, who plays an 1851 Érard – features sonatas by Schumann and Moscheles written in that year. Meanwhile, we also explore a new recording of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontiusperformed by the Huddersfield Choral Society, and conducted by the indefatigable Martyn Brabbins – timed to coincide with the new Alan Bennett film The Choral, which deals with the same choral society mounting a wartime performance of the same work. Elsewhere in the issue, in Icons, we discuss the career and legacy of the Australian pianist Eileen Joyce, renowned for her elegant virtuosity, while in Classics Reconsidered, we return to Carlo Maria Guilini’s famous 1959 recording of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with a stellar cast including Joan Sutherland and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf – does it deserve its classic status? Collection guides readers through the available recordings of a great organ work, Julius Reubke’s Sonata on the 94th Psalm, while Contemporary Composers introduces the work of the British composer Peter Fribbins and suggests some listening. Musician & the Score sees American violinist Stella Chen – Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year in 2023 – talk about recording Barber’s Violin Concerto for Platoon, while, as always, we bring you our expert reviews of the finest classical releases, with the very best being named Editor’s Choices.