In the June issue of Gramophone we meet mezzo Magdalena Kožená and pianist Mitsuko Uchida to discuss their new recording for Pentatone, drawing together songs by Debussy and Messiaen.

Also in the issue, violinist Bojan Čičić talks to us about recording Biber’s collection of sonatas from 1681 with the Illyria Consort, and the new music director of St John’s College, Cambridge, Christopher Gray, reflects on recording music by James MacMillan and Roxana Panufnik, as well as new works by Joanna Marsh and Helena Paish.

Elsewhere in the issue, this month’s Icons remembers the musicianship of the great Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek, while in Classics Reconsidered we consider the merits of Herbert von Karajan’s only recording of Nielsen, his 1981 DG account of Symphony No 4.

Our Collection explores the available recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Pushkin-inspired opera The Queen of Spades, in Contemporary Composers we celebrate British composer Gabriel Jackson, while in Musician & the Score, Georgian pianist Mariam Batsashvili talks about Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata.

Finally, in My Music, author William Boyd tells Gramophone about his musical journey which led to working on an opera with composer Colin Matthews. Plus, as always, we review the latest classical albums, with the very best named Editor’s Choices.

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