Appreciation of artistic excellence underpins almost everything we do here at Gramophone, though the past few months have seen our attention specially focused on exactly what that means. Our June issue’s Hall of Fame celebrated the greats from the past (and, in some cases, present) who have transformed classical music recording – there’s a rich archive of articles and videos to explore on our website.

Then in the past few weeks, the process behind the Gramophone Classical Music Awards has swung into action. As I write, our panel of expert critics are listening intently to the recordings in the running for each category – all of which, by
 this stage of voting, are potential worthy winners and certainly worthy of the time and money of any Gramophone reader. We’ve also, after much enjoyable discussion, drawn up our shortlist of 10 artists for this year’s Gramophone Artist of the Year: 10 people whose contribution to musical life over the past 12 months has enriched our world. The ballot is open – see our Artist of the Year pages for more details about who to vote for and how you can do so.

And then there is this month’s cover artist. Few musicians have garnered such affection among record buyers as Alfred Brendel, over a recording career that has encompassed six decades and the core works of the classical pianist’s repertoire many times over. How did this longevity of career, and support from the public, come about?

Well, for us, I think the answer is obvious: music-making of exquisite style, skill and intelligence, coupled with a deep devotion to his art. Brendel, however, being the thoughtful and reflective musician we all know him to be, has looked beyond the obvious to explore how his life lived in front of the microphone came about and what making so many recordings means to him – and should mean to us, too. It’s a fascinating article, full of humanity, humility and humour – not dissimilar to the great pianist himself. It’s a privilege to publish it.