Our December Recording of the Month is a radical new interpretation of Bartók’s three Piano Concertos from the San Francisco Symphony under Esa-Pekka Salonen with Pierre-Laurent Aimard the eloquent soloist (Pentatone 5187029). “Steeped in all-things Hungarian, Aimard approaches these strikingly different pieces – each bristling with not-inconsiderable challenges – with all the conviction of a true believer,” writes Michael Quinn in a five-star review. “Particularly satisfying is the shared determination to cast off the inherited mahogany-dark tenor and associated pugnacious tropes that have bedevilled Bartók’s piano concertos. The result is like hearing all three anew.”

With space at a premium, I’ll cut to the chase and highlight a quartet of outstanding orchestral blockbusters. First up are the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Yuja Wang and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel (DG 4864759).

“The flashy exuberance of the First Concerto and its quicksilver changes of mood suit both her and the slick reactions of Dudamel and his whip-smart orchestra down to the ground,” writes Greg Keane. He goes on to admire their “voluminous sound and undeniable presence” in the Second and especially the Fourth, “which contains some of the most manically kaleidoscopic...