It may be that a lot of material was already in the can before lockdown struck, but either way there has been little let-up in the flow of high-quality recordings over the past six months. Limelight critics continued to cover new releases – often the closest people could get to live music – throughout the pandemic and now the time has come to choose our Recording of the Year from among a crowded field. A long list of 100 recordings has been whittled down to five discs in each of five categories: Orchestral, Chamber, Instrumental, Vocal & Choral, and Opera.