Veteran American conductor John Nelson's live recording of Handel's Messiah from Coventry Cathedral (with The English Concert and soloists Lucy Crowe, Alex Potter, Michael Spyres & Matthew Brook) proved our most popular title for December, after featuring as our pre-Christmas Recording of the Week and receiving a slew of favourable reviews elsewhere: Gramophone described it as 'consistently interesting and invigorated', whilst The Times awarded it five stars and applauded the 'perfect balance between instrumentalists and singers' as well as the 'crisp acoustic obtained from Coventry Cathedral'.
Other seasonal titles in the Top 25 included Armonico Consort's Noël (featuring music by composers including Toby Young, Bob Chilcott, Jonathan Dove and Elizabeth Poston), Lise Davidsen's glorious Christmas from Norway, and Charpentier's Messe de Minuit from Ensemble Correspondances and Sébastien Daucé.
No. 1 (No. 3 last month)
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Alex Potter (countertenor), Michael Spyres (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass)
The English Concert & Choir, John Nelson
Available formats: 2 CDs + DVD Video, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 2 (No. 2 last month)
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 3 (No. 11 last month)
Lise Davidsen (soprano)
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 4 (No. 15 last month)
Veronika Jarůšková (violin), Peter Jarůšek (cello), Boris Giltburg (piano)
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 5 (new entry)
Neal Davies (bass-baritone), Sarah Connolly (mezzo), Nick Pritchard (tenor), Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia, The Choir of Merton College, Oxford, Benjamin Nicholas
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 6 (No. 1 last month)
Sinfonia of London, Sinfonia of London Chorus, John Wilson
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 7 (new entry)
Operette
Wien - Berlin - Paris
Diana Damrau (soprano), Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Ernst Theis
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 8 (new entry)
Carolyn Sampson, Jacquelyn Wagner (sopranos), Sasha Cooke (mezzo), Jess Dandy (contralto), Barry Banks (tenor), Julian Orlishausen (baritone), Christian Immler (bass-baritone)
Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale, National Lutheran Choir, Minnesota Boychoir, Angelica Cantanti Youth Choir, Osmo Vänskä
Available format: SACD
No. 9 (No. 8 last month)
Sean Shibe (guitar)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 10 (No. 5 last month)
Roderick Williams (baritone), Gemma Summerfield (soprano), Claudia Huckle (contralto), Bror Magnus Tødenes (tenor)
Bergen Philharmonic, Edvard Grieg Kor, Collegium Musicum Choir, Sir Mark Elder
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 11 (No. 10 last month)
Rachel Podger (violin), Brecon Baroque
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 12 (No. 3 in October)
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 13 (No. 14 last month)
Steven Osborne (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 14 (No. 22 in September)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 15 (No. 24 last month)
Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Available format: 2 CDs
No. 16 (new entry)
Lina Johnson (soprano), Olivia Vermeulen (mezzo-soprano), Martin Platz (tenor), Manuel Walser (bass)
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 17 (No. 4 last month)
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 18 (new entry)
John Williams (guitar)
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 19 (new entry)
Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 20 (new entry)
Judi Dench, Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton, Charlie Stemp, Anna-Jane Casey, Rob Houchen, Bonnie Langford et al
Available format: 2 CDs
No. 21 (No. 7 last month)
Maria Listra (soprano - L'Abbe Agathon), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tonu Kaljuste
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 22 (new entry)
Armonico Consort, Christopher Monks
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 23 (new entry)
ari Eriksmoen (soprano), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo), Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, Santtu-Matias Rouvali
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 24 (No. 23 last month)
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 25 (new entry)
Kirill Gerstein (piano), Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirill Petrenko
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
