This month we feature a treasure trove of discoveries, from unknown Lieder and operatic rarities to the birth of the nocturne and another wonderful unearthed female composer.

Essential holiday listening includes a Britten rarity, stunning recordings of Elgar and Tippett, a pair of oddball operas, and three outstanding discs of orchestral music by women.

Folk-flecked piano trios, Elder’s Elgar, Jurowski’s Stravinsky, and orchestral songs from Magdalena Kožená and Stanford. This month’s releases are strikingly eclectic.

In a nail-bitingly close contest, an independent label carries off the top prize.

Clive Paget caught up with the personable British baritone to unpack his enviable reputation as a singer and orchestrator.

This month, Roderick Williams gussies up English songs, Ravel and Arnold receive ardent advocacy, and a trio of suppressed Jessye Norman recordings sees the light of day.

Vaughan Williams’ 150th tops and tails this month’s new classical albums, plus the latest from the Danish String Quartet, a classic Bryn Terfel recital and a heartfelt new Traviata.

After two decades based in the US, Durkin has returned to Australia and is poised to star in one of Britten's darkest works.

Eighty years on, argues Brett Weymark, Tippett's pacifist oratorio feels more relevant than ever.

In his new book, retired British surgeon Jonathan Noble investigates the myths and misdiagnoses that plague the great composers. He tells us about the historians and critics who got it wrong, and why some “kindly quacks” deserve to be let off the hook.

In the wake of his death, we revisit a wonderful, wide-ranging interview that Andrew Ford did with the British composer/conductor in Aldeburgh in 1992.