Classical CDs: Christmas 2023
Twelve of the year's best seasonal recordings
Winter Breviary St Martin’s Voices/Andrew Earis (Resonus)
Classical CDs: Microphones, mazurkas and mad scenes
Piano concertos, operatic intermezzi and a striking collection of songs
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1-5 Garrick Ohlsson (piano), Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra/Sir Donald Runnicles (Reference Recordings)
Classical CDs: Drawing rooms, timpani strokes and domestic fiddling
Vintage recording techniques, partsongs and Soviet orchestral music
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 Bamberger Symphoniker/Jakub Hrůša (Accentus)
Classical CDs: Polkas, fans and chestnut trees
Czech piano music, Cuban mambo and a pair of Renaissance choral blockbusters
Kabeláč: Eight Preludes, Motifs from Exotic Lands, Smetana: Dreams Jan Bartoš (piano) (Supraphon)
Classical CDs: Suits, serenades and flared trousers
Baroque keyboard variations, contemporary orchestral music and songs by a maverick miniaturist
Bach: Goldberg Variations Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) (DG)
Bach Goldberg Variations Reimagined Rachel Podger/Brecon Baroque (Channel Classics)
Classical CDs: Strings, trumpets and stained glass windows
20th century music from Poland, Renaissance choral music and Venetian field recordings
Grażyna Bacewicz: Piano Concerto, Concerto for Two Pianos, Music for Strings, Trumpets and Percussion Peter Jablonski, Elisabeth Brauß (pianos), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon (Ondine)
Classical CDs: Tambourines, multiphonics and hot chocolate
Horn concertos, piano concertos and sacred choral music
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 1-4, Paganini Rhapsody Lukáš Vondráček, Prague Symphony Orchestra/Tomáš Brauner (Supraphon)
Yuja Wang, Los Angeles Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel (DG)
Classical CDs: Microphones, Massachusetts and mountains
Another great conductor celebrated in box form, plus vinyl reissues and rediscovered string quartets
Antal Doráti: The Mercury Masters – The Mono Recordings (Decca Eloquence)
Classical CDs: Penitence, pipe smoking and soot sprites
A conducting giant commemorated, plus Renaissance choral music and Japanese film scores
Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Remastered Edition (Warner Classics)
Classical CDs: Peasant weddings, chilly vistas and bass drums
Russian symphonies and ballet, plus contemporary lieder and Balkan piano music
Louise Farrenc: Symphonies 1-3 Insula Orchestra/Laurence Equilbey (Erato)