Any new release from the Takács Quartet promises to be something special, and November's magnificent Record of the Month—String Quartets by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn—is no exception. In comparison to Felix's last and greatest quartet, often regarded as a requiem for his sister, the couplings appear scarcely less fine in the Takács' idiomatic interpretations: these are astonishing performances which fully recognize all three works' strength and seriousness of purpose. The flowering of Romanticism throughout the first half of the nineteenth century is also much in evidence in the Chopin Nocturnes, and Stephen Hough's glorious new set effortlessly captures the emotional and poetic radiance of works which increasingly transcend the modest domestic origins of the genre, culminating in the twin masterpieces of the final Op 62 set.

With Josquin's legacy, Owain Park and The Gesualdo Six bid farewell to the composer's quincentenary year. This is typically imaginative programming from the group; a selection of motets bringing together Josquin with his contemporaries, with luminous performances to match.

An occasional series dedicated to choice selections of our all-time favourite recordings—ones you might possibly have missed? This time: Piano Concertos by Rubinstein & Scharwenka from Marc-André Hamelin (‘Hamelin soars to ever new heights of virtuosity’—Gramophone), Sir James MacMillan's Tenebrae Responsories from Westminster Cathedral Choir (‘the performances throughout are outstanding, and beautifully recorded’—Gramophone), and Triodion & other choral works by Arvo Pärt from Polyphony and Stephen Layton (‘the choir's pursuit of perfection ideally complements the sheer beauty of the music’—Classic FM Magazine). If you don’t know them already, a track from each is included on our monthly sampler which is free to download.

An unashamedly celebratory album, The tree from St John's College Choir Cambridge marks milestone birthdays of former directors Christopher Robinson and David Hill (who share conducting duties with current incumbent Andrew Nethsingha), in the process bringing together present and past choir members and friends—literally hundreds of them for some tracks. Also for Signum Classics, Bridget Cunningham has recorded Handel's Eight Great Harpsichord Suites, the programme also including first recordings of some superb arrangements of operatic overtures and arias as reworked for the instrument by Handel himself. And in Labyrinths the Orchestra of the Swan further explores the delightful, if sometimes surprising, connections to be enjoyed between culturally disparate and musically contrasting time periods.

A new double album from LSO Live brings together vibrant new recordings of Mozart Wind Concertos (Timothy Jones the soloist in Horn Concerto No 2, Olivier Stankiewicz in the C major Oboe, and Andrew Marriner in the A major Clarinet) with the extended Sinfonia concertante, lost for a century after its first performance in 1778. Jaime Martín conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. Also included is the acclaimed 2015 recording of the 'Serenade for 13 wind instruments' by the LSO Wind Ensemble.

Two new releases from Collegium Records this month bring us I sing of a maiden, a sequence of five new carols by John Rutter stunningly performed by The Cambridge Singers and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer's baton, and Lead, kindly Light, a brief new setting of John Henry Newman's famous words.

It was in 1581 that Robert Dow began to write out all his favourite music into five partbooks—designed for his dinner guests to sing and play from, as they enjoyed his wine and his company. Entitled Vinum et Musica (quoting from Dow's own emphatic inscription beginning each partbook), a new 1equalmusic recording from the ever-innovative Tonus Peregrinus sets out to see how this would have worked in reality, the highly experimental and very enjoyable result being almost certainly the only album of Renaissance polyphony to feature table tennis cheek by jowl with the most unexpected harmonic false relations …

On the choir's own label, In the bleak midwinter is a warming sequence of twenty carols from King's College Choir Cambridge. Following the familiar musical progressions of the world-renowned Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols—for which in 2020 much of this recording was intended to be a fall-back only—glorious old favourites as ever sit happily alongside new arrangements and carols less well known. Daniel Hyde conducts.

A new collaboration between Irish National Opera and Signum Classics bursts onto the scene with the premiere recording of Alice's adventures under ground by Gerald Barry, a mini opera which takes Lewis Carroll's fantastical imaginings into entirely new realms of anarchy. Claudia Boyle heads up a dizzyingly virtuosic ensemble, André de Ridder conducting a rambunctious Irish Chamber Orchestra. Jabberwocky in Russian, anyone?