If only Marc-André Hamelin's new set of the complete Nocturnes & Barcarolles by Gabriel Fauré could have been heard by their composer. Fauré's piano music may have been grievously neglected during his lifetime (a neglect of which he was all too conscious) but this eagerly awaited release would surely have offered consolation, and brought him nothing but unalloyed pleasure. Throughout the twenty-six works, covering a creative journey of nearly half a century, this most fastidious of composers requires a similar sensitivity from the pianist and it's hard to imagine more sympathetic accounts than these. If any further incentive were needed, a perfectly judged performance of Dolly—Fauré's unclouded evocation of childhood innocence—in which Hamelin is joined by Cathy Fuller, is included, completing a Record of the Month for September which is really rather special.

Credo is the intriguing title of a new release from the State Choir Latvija and its principal conductor Māris Sirmais, a programme which explores contrasting aspects of sacred and secular love across a wide range of musical styles. From Strauss (at his most sumptuous) and Messiaen (an extraordinary choral arrangement of a movement from the Quatuor pour la fin du Temps) to works by young Slovenian composers, these are thrilling performances of music which makes often formidable demands of its performers, demands which are effortlessly dispatched by this superb choir. And Gramophone Award-winning vocal ensemble Cupertinos, directed by Luís Toscano, once again demonstrates a close affinity with another great figure from Portugal's golden age of polyphony. The inclusion of first recordings (here featuring two substantial Mass settings) is often to be taken for granted with this group, but Missa Veni Domine & Missa Vere Dominus est by Filipe de Magalhães is no mere scholarly exercise, rather a convincing revivification of some glorious music.

The ongoing series dedicated to choice selections of our all-time favourite recordings—ones you might possibly have missed? This time: the Piano Concerto by Gabriel Pierné from Stephen Coombs and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (‘the greatest thing since ice cream!’—Fanfare), Anton Rubinstein Piano Quartets from Leslie Howard and friends (‘an impassioned, convincing first recording’—BBC Music Magazine), and Charpentier's Mass for four choirs from Ex Cathedra (‘the brilliance of this work is expertly captured’—Early Music). If you don’t know them already, a track from each is included on our monthly sampler which is free to download.

Wonderland is a new album from LSO Live aimed primarily—though by no means exclusively—at a younger audience. Inspired by Victorian sensibilities composer Paul Rissmann has worked up what he calls 'the Alice sound', and the resulting two suites recorded here are scored for voices (whether youthful or, as here, professional), full symphony orchestra and narrator. Lee Reynolds conducts the London Symphony Orchestra.

From Signum Classics this month we have New Millennium, a sometimes riotous showcase of twenty-first-century contributions to the Anglican musical tradition, many of them thrillingly challenging the very fabric of that tradition. Andrew Nethsingha conducts St John's College Choir Cambridge and the composers represented include many names new to the catalogue: ones to watch.

Influences of jazz and Romanian improvised folk singing might seem a surprising overlay for a new Signum album of music by Beethoven, Bartók, Enescu and Pachelbel. But Rhapsody is an entirely surprising album, as Teodora Brody's utterly uninhibited vocalisations noodle with the most outrageous of lush orchestrations and conductor Robert Ziegler heroically tries to keep a lid on the London Symphony Orchestra. Well worth a listen.