Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Semyon Bychkov,with Chen Reiss (soprano) (Pentatone)

JS Bach: Magnificat, CPE Bach: Magnificat Gaechinger Cantorey/Hans-Christoph Rademann (Accentus Music)

Eric Nathan: Missing Words (New Focus Recordings)

Leroy Anderson: Complete Orchestral Works BBC Concert Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin (Naxos)

Beethoven for Three – Symphonies 2 and 5 Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, Yo Yo Ma (Sony)

Americascapes – music by Loeffler, Ruggles, Hanson and Cowell Basque National Orchestra/Robert Trevino (Ondine)

Gidon Kremer: The Warner Collection (Warner Classics)

There’s still so much good music being recorded and released; classical CD shops may be thin on the ground but the CDs themselves are still very much available. I’ll stream or download if forced to, but the appearance and feel of the physical product is part of the pleasure of listening, and listening through a pair of decent speakers will always trump a FLAC or an mp3. So these are all physical artefacts, things you can handle, read and pass on. My initial shortlist was voluminous but I’ve managed to whittle it down.

Charpentier: Un Oratorio De Noël Les Arts Florissants/William Christie (Harmonia Mundi)

Michael Praetorius: Es is ein Ros Dresdner Kammerchor/Hans-Christoph Rademann (Accentus)