The end of the year: a time when people look both backwards and forwards. And at Gramophone, we’re no different; reflecting on something with the perspective a little distance from an event brings is both healthy and enjoyable. Our Critics’ Choice feature, in which our reviewers name their favourite release from the past year, is always among the most popular for both readers and writers. Some albums appear twice, affirmation (if needed) of their quality; I hope it helps to make your Christmas shopping that little bit easier.

But of course we also look further back than that. Art always does, and should; it’s one of the most powerful means humanity has of offering to the present the understanding of the past, and to make that meaningful for our own lives (and we’re fortunate indeed that this has been further enriched by a century of recording technology). Something of this lies in the title our writer Michelle Assay gives to her fascinating, personal exploration of the legacy of one the greatest pianists of the recording era: ‘Vladimir Horowitz, our contemporary’. How is this virtuoso a man of our own era? In the same way, she contends, that Shakespeare’s characters are relevant today, crafted as they are with a psychological insight that transcends the years. It is for this same reason that the greatest music, be it by Beethoven or Mozart – to which Horowitz added his own poetry – is also contemporary.  

Horowitz is of course not the composer but the means through which the art reaches us. But speaking of composers, we look back to Mieczysław Weinberg this issue, following an anniversary year in which the committed advocacy of artists such as Birmingham’s superb young conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla has sought to make his music better known, following decades of relegation to relative obscurity – except within one arena, that is, in which his music was explored: recordings. Where concert-hall programmers cannot always take risks on repertoire, recording has so often managed to tend a flame for devotees of the day and for audiences of the future. 

And what of looking forwards? Competitions continue to provide a pointer to the artists who may well shape the future of our art form (and who knows, may serve as the means by which future listeners may seek to understand something of our own age). Each December we publish our special focus on competitions. The list of laureates of many of them is testimony to their perceptiveness (that old investors’ caveat ‘past performance is not a guide to the future’ only partially applies here), but these days competitions are about more than just picking out winners. The best organisations will nurture those artists’ careers through those heady and difficult first few years, and many of them will offer us, audiences throughout the world, a way to experience the excitement via streaming and broadcasts, and to judge for ourselves. 

So whether the weeks ahead involve immersing yourselves in masters of the past, exploring performances of the present, or seeking out the stars of tomorrow, may I wish you all wonderful listening, and a very happy Christmas.

martin.cullingford@markallengroup.com