This being Christmas, three of our very own wise men come bearing … well, if not gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, then fascinating insights into some of their favourite (or even yet-to-be-discovered) Hyperion recordings. No trace here of Yuletide kitsch, and anyone looking for a Christmas treat out of the ordinary—or for stimulating gift ideas for the music lover in their life—need look no further …

It has been a particular pleasure this year to welcome Mahan Esfahani back to the label, with his sensational recital of Elizabethan and Jacobean keyboard music. From Dr Zhivago to Ken Russell’s memorable take on Elgar, the personal associations behind Mahan’s selection are almost as compelling as the choices themselves …

Few conductors have done more to champion British composers past and present than Martyn Brabbins, whose Vaughan Williams recordings for Hyperion are already establishing themselves as a reference point. Unsurprisingly, great British music features prominently in his choices, plus a very special release of a Russian masterpiece.

From sixteenth-century Spanish polyphony to twentieth-century English orchestral music via one of the most perfect song recitals ever recorded: who else could it be but Stephen Hough, whose enviably eclectic musical tastes are reflected in an inspired selection.

There are no new Hyperion recordings this month; our January 2019 releases will be available from Friday 28 December 2018. In the meantime, we are pleased to revisit some favourite albums from 2018. Further down the page you'll find the normal listings of recent releases both on Hyperion and the other labels we are pleased to offer.

Even by the composer's exalted standards, the Haydn String Quartets Op 64 are six of his finest, ranking among the glories of the Enlightenment. And, as throughout their series, these performances from The London Haydn Quartet bring out all the music's considerable wit, wisdom and humanity. As if this weren't enticement enough, their album is another two-for-the-price-of-one offering, all of which makes November's Record of the Month one not to be missed. An exorbitancy of Delight is promised by Mahan Esfahani in The Passinge mesures. This is a richly complex programme of Tudor and Stuart keyboard music from the age's leading and lesser lights, which this most extraordinary of harpsichordists confesses means as much to him as anything in his repertoire.

Tenor Allan Clayton, in his first solo recital for Hyperion, fearlessly scales the giddy heights (and gentler slopes) of Liszt Complete Songs Volume 5; Julius Drake tackles the equally challenging piano accompaniments with his usual aplomb. And if Antoine de Févin's Missa Ave Maria & Missa Salve sancta parens are today little known, then this new recording from The Brabant Ensemble under the ever-committed direction of Stephen Rice should go some way to rehabilitating the reputation of this Renaissance scion of the minor nobility, priest, singer and composer.

On LSO Live a mammoth new set entitled Berlioz Odyssey brings together all of Sir Colin Davis’ iconic Berlioz recordings made for the label with the London Symphony Orchestra: from celebrated interpretations of popular orchestral works to landmark opera recordings, including the double Grammy Award-winning Les Troyens.

Baritone Stephan Loges has been in the studio for Signum with sympathetic accompanist Iain Burnside. Their programme entitled Nature's solace includes cycles by Schumann and Brahms, as well as a rare insight into the songs of Yrjö Kilpinen.

LSO Live completes a new cycle with the release of Mozart Violin Concertos Nos 1, 2 & 3, these youthful jewels sparkling in the hands of soloist Nikolaj Znaider who conducts the London Symphony Orchestra from the violin.

Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra have recorded the two Elgar Wand of Youth Suites, miniature masterpieces of nostalgia and melodic invention, and worthy additions to the composer's burgeoning discography on the Hallé label, now very much his modern-day home.

It is two years since the last instalment in this important series from The Tallis Scholars and Peter Phillips. The Josquin Masses here are 'Gaudeamus' and 'L'ami baudichon', the one a mathematical high-wire response to a substantial chant melody, the other intriguingly transforming a decidedly smutty text. The recording from Gimell is everything one would expect.