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Gramophone Composer Guides: the best George Frideric Handel recordings Over the past monthGramophone has launched a series of Composer Guides to the essential recordings ofWolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Claude Debussy, Ludwig van Beethoven,Johannes Brahms and Giuseppe Verdi. This week we turn our attention toGeorge Frideric Handel, a giant of musical history and a great man in spirit and vision. Explore our recommendations for the best recordings of Messiah, theWater Music, Giulio Cesare, Music for theRoyal Fireworks, Dixit Dominus, Rinaldoand many more.

Gramophone Awards announced this Thursday, September 27 The 2012 Gramophone Awards, in association with Steinway & Sons and EFG International, take place this Thursday, September 27 with a ceremony held at the Dorchester Hotel in London. We’ll be announcing the winners of each category and the coveted Recording of the Year live on the website throughout the day, and on our Facebook andTwitter pages. In the mean time listen to our latest Awards category podcast – James Jolly and Caroline Gill discussing the Chamber category shortlist. read more...

Universal secures European go ahead for EMI takeover – but must divest labels including EMI Classics After months of negotiations, the European Commission has finally approved Universal’s $1.9bn (£1.2bn) takeover of EMI – but with a number of conditions. read more...

Leeds International Piano Competition 2012 winner announced Federico Colli has won the 2012 Leeds International Piano Competition in the competition’s 50th anniversary year. read more...

Paul McCreesh named Gulbenkian Orchestra principal conductor and artistic advisor  Paul McCreesh has been appointed principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Lisbon-based Gulbenkian Orchestra from July 2013 on a four-year contract. read more...

Children to compose for Wallace and Gromit Following the success of this year's Wallace and Gromit Prom, BBC Learning and Aardman Animations have launched a competition inviting small groups of primary school children to compose their own... read more...

The art of bringing different audiences together Gramophone editor Martin Cullingford writes about the Kings Place Festival and the importance of building bridges in a new blog. read more...

Refurbishment of Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall organ gathers pace The Southbank Centre has thus far raised £750,000 in public donations towards the complete refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall organ. See pictures of the newly reinstalled central section in our gallery. read more...

Advertisement Feature:   ‘Vladimir Jurowski in the Royal Festival Hall (photo: Karen Robinson’) Russian National Orchestra at Southbank Centre Hear the Russian National Orchestra, described by Gramophone as ‘awe-inspiring’, perform at London’s Royal Festival Hall as part ofWar & Peace, a unique concert series running from October 3-5. Together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and celebrated conductor Vladimir Jurowski, the Russian National Orchestra perform moving pieces of music by much-loved British and Russian composers profoundly influenced by both conflict and peace as part of Shell Classic International. For more information click here