This month sees the release of a further three albums in Hyperion’s Vinyl Edition. All are new to vinyl and feature some of the artists with whom the label has enjoyed particularly close or long-standing associations over the years. They are released as limited-edition 180g LPs, presented in full-colour gatefolds and with sleeve notes included.

Sir Stephen Hough is represented by the LP release of his seminal recording of The Rachmaninov Piano Concertos, welcomed by Gramophone as a ‘mouth-watering prospect’ comprising ‘exhilarating performances … [which] demand to be heard’ (The Sunday Times). Andrew Litton conducts the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Hailed as ‘one of the most thoughtful and sensitive of British pianists’ (The Times), Mishka Rushdie Momen made her Hyperion debut with Reformation – Keyboard works by William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons & John Bull: ‘It’s beautifully done’, said The Guardian, and it’s now available on vinyl. Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge recorded Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment back in 2017. Now available as a 2-LP set, this is a version which stands the test of time: ‘Uplifting and invigorating. Iestyn Davies’s singing of “Qui sedes” takes this release into the realms of greatness’ (The Sunday Times).

An auspicious debut recording from the Amsterdam Piano Trio—pianist Andrey Gugnin, violinist Anna Lipkind-Mazor and cellist Dmitry Prokofiev—pairs two giants of the late nineteenth-century chamber repertoire: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio of 1882 and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, the latter heard here in the arrangement for piano trio by Schoenberg specialist Henk Guittart. It is fascinating to listen as these vibrant performers draw a line of musical continuity between the great Russian Romantic and the pioneering Viennese modernist: we’ve made it our Record of the Month.

‘Destined to be a force in the classical music firmament for decades to come’ (The Times), Alina Ibragimova made her 2007 debut recording for Hyperion with an album devoted to the music of Karl Amadeus Hartmann: fiercely difficult and conceived on a grand scale, recalling the majesty and breadth of J S Bach. Since then we have had delectable solo recordings (Bach, Paganini, Telemann), concertos by Shostakovich, Roslavets, Mendelssohn and Bach, and—of course—the extended series of violin and piano albums recorded alongside Cédric Tiberghien. There is much to love here, and we’re pleased to be able to offer the whole discography for the special price of around £10 per CD (£8 or less for lossless downloads) until the end of June. Some highlights are listed below and are included on Volume 2 of our May sampler (free to download), and you can also » Click here for a full listing.

Studies in disappearing is a collection of experimental soundscapes put together by British composer Rebecca Dale. The predominant sounds on this album from Signum Classics are of voice and violin (both Dale), but we also have contributions from the Philharmonia Orchestra, Tenebrae and—in the utterly bizarre final track—Joby Burgess (percussion), Arcappellago and The Sardine Ensemble …

On Signum Classics this month soprano Sarah Fox presents a rarely heard selection of Mozart Concert Arias. Recorded with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León under Roberto Forés Veses (and with Malcolm Martineau at the piano as required), this recording brings together Fox’s operatic experience and the orchestra’s distinctive sound in a focused exploration of these finely crafted concert works.

Paul Watkins and Alessio Bax—a pairing to be envied if ever there was one—have recorded the Beethoven Cello Sonatas, five seminal works which span much of their composer’s creative life. Watkins performs on a cello made by Montagnana and Goffriller circa 1730, and this new Signum Classics album comes with a detailed note on the sonatas from Misha Donat.

Finding light is a new album from conductor Irene Messoloras and her hand-picked choir Meridian. Their programme on Signum Classics focuses on those choral works—predominantly modern ones—which have that quality of meditative stillness which many today find so lacking in the world.

Isata Kanneh-Mason has recorded Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 3 & works for solo piano, orchestral backing for the ebullient concerto coming from the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Ryan Bancroft. Solo piano works make up the balance of this new album from Decca Classics: the mighty Toccata in D minor, Piano Sonata No 3, and a selection of the composer’s own ballet suite arrangements.