Festive titles of course featured prominently, with The Sarahbanda's Cuban Christmas, the Monteverdi Choir and Christophe Rousset's Baroque Christmas and O Holy Night from The Choir of St John's College Cambridge all maintaining their presence from November, and a delightful programme of Christmas music by Alessandro Scarlatti making an appearance at No. 5.
Newcomers from November's crop of releases included Scriabin and Chopin from Mikhail Pletnev, previously unreleased recordings by the late Radu Lupu, and the Nash Ensemble's superb Ravel collection marking their sixtieth anniversary.
No. 1 (No. 1 last month)
Opus 109
Beethoven - Bach - Schubert
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 2 (No. 3 last month)
Carlos Calunga (vocals), The Sarahbanda
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 3 (No. 20 last month)
English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, Christophe Rousset
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 4 (new entry)
Mikhail Pletnev (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 5 (new entry)
Alessandro Scarlatti: Christmas at the Bethlehem of the West
Music from Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Carlotta Colombo (soprano), Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri, Giulio Prandi
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 6 (No. 16 in August)
Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Jaime Martín
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
No. 7 (No. 18 in September)
Lea Desandre (mezzo), Thomas Dunford (lute, theorbo), with Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone); Jupiter
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 8 (No. 5 last month)
Krystian Zimerman (piano), Maria Nowak (violin), Katarzyna Budnik (viola), Yuya Okamoto (cello)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 9 (No. 13 last month)
Julie Roset (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo). Lucile Richardot (alto), Emiliano Gonzalez Toro (tenor), Christian Immler (bass), Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 10 (No. 21 last month)
Alice Sara Ott (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 11 (new entry)
All the Stars Looked Down
A John Rutter Celebration
The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Britten Sinfonia, Daniel Hyde
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 12 (No. 4 last month)
Bertrand Chamayou (piano), Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 13 (No. 8 last month)
Nicola Benedetti (violin)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 14 (No. 11 in October)
Pavel Haas Quartet
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 15 (new entry)
Radu Lupu: The Unreleased Recordings
Decca Masters and Radio Tapes 1970-2002
Radu Lupu (piano)
Available formats: 6 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
No. 16 (No. 22 last month)
O Holy Night
Christmas Carols From St John’s
The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, Christopher Gray
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 17 (No. 17 last month)
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo), Hallé Orchestra, Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Kahchun Wong
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 18 (No. 19 last month)
Scarlett Strallen (Eliza Doolittle), Jamie Parker (Henry Higgins), Alun Armstrong (Alfred P. Doolittle), Malcolm Sinclair (Colonel Pickering), Laurence Kilsby (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Julia McKenzie (Mrs Pearce), Penelope Wilton (Mrs Higgins)
Sinfonia of London, My Fair Lady Ensemble, John Wilson
Available formats: 2 SACDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 19 (new entry)
Nash Ensemble
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 20 (No. 14 last month)
Kammerorchester Basel, Giovanni Antonini
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 21 (No. 2 last month)
Jonathan Aasgaard (cello), Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 22 (No. 9 last month)
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Paavo Järvi
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 23 (new entry)
Ensemble Altera, Christopher Lowrey
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 24 (No. 11 last month)
Daniil Trifonov (piano)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
No. 25 (No. 22 in October)
Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
