As a postscript to the usual monthly chart, we’ve decided to share details of our fifty best-selling titles across the board for the whole of 2020, with Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson's spellbinding recital of Rameau and Debussy (released in March on Deutsche Grammophon) taking pride of place; you can read James’s full review of the recording here, and his in-depth interview with Víkingur here.
British conductor John Wilson and Sinfonia of London proved extremely popular, with all three of their recordings to date featuring in the Top Ten. Look out for their next album English Music for Strings, due out on Chandos on 29th January and inspired by John Barbirolli's recording of the same name with the orchestra, which Wilson declared 'may be my single Desert Island Disc' when he spoke to James last year.
No. 1
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 2
Alina Ibragimova (violin), State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov', Vladimir Jurowski
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 3
Sean Shibe (guitar)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 4
Nicola Benedetti (violin), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 5
Paul Lewis (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 6
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 7
Stephen Hough (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 8
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 9
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 10
No. 11
Joyce DiDonato (Agrippina), Elsa Benoit (Poppea), Luca Pisaroni (Claudio), Franco Fagioli (Nerone), Jakub Józef Orliński (Ottone), Andrea Mastroni (Pallante), Carlo Vistoli (Narciso), Biagio Pizzuti (Lesbo), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Giunone)
Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 12
Kremerata Baltica, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Gidon Kremer, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 13
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 14
Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Anna Dennis (soprano), Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Roderick Williams (baritone)
Gabrieli, Paul McCreesh
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 15
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 16
Grigory Sokolov (piano)
Available Format: 2 CDs + DVD Video
No. 17
Daniil Trifonov (piano), Mariinsky Orchestra, Valéry Gergiev
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 18
Stephen Hough (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 19
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 20
Jean Rondeau (harpsichord), Thomas Dunford (lute), Lea Desandre (mezzo-soprano), Marc Mauillon (baritone), Myriam Rignol (viola da gamba)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 21
Isabelle Faust (violin), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 22
Mark Stone (baritone), Kirill Gerstein (piano), Christianne Stotijn (mezzo-soprano), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Adès
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 23
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Elim Chan
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 24
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 25
Garrick Ohlsson (piano), Takács Quartet
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 26
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 27
Sarah Connolly (mezzo), Robert Dean Smith (tenor), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 28
Voces8
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 29
Lucy Crowe (Vixen), Gerald Finley (Forester), Sophia Burgos (Fox), Jan Martiník (Badger/Parson), Peter Hoare (Mosquito/Rooster/Schoolmaster), Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Harašta)
London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 30
Andrew Haveron (violin), RTÉ Concert Orchestra, John Wilson, Sinfonia of London Chamber Ensemble
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 31
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 32
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 33
No. 34
Benjamin Bruns (Evangelist), Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Aki Matsui (soprano), Damien Guillon (counter-tenor), Clint van der Linde (baritone), Makato Sakurada (tenor), Zachary Wilder (tenor), Christian Immler (baritone), Toru Kaku (bass)
Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
Available Format: 2 SACDs
No. 35
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 36
Véronique Gens (soprano), I Giardini
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 37
No. 38
Isabelle Faust (violin), Bernhard Forck (violin), Xenia Loeffler (oboe)
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 39
The Kanneh-Masons, with Michael Morpurgo and Olivia Colman
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 40
Bertrand Chamayou (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 41
Vilde Frang (violin), Barnabás Kelemen (violin), Lawrence Power (viola), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 42
Steven Osborne (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 43
Helena Dix (soprano), Christine Rice (mezzo-soprano), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), Roderick Williams (baritone)
BBC Concert Orchestra, Bach Choir, David Hill
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 44
Xenia Löffler (oboe), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 45
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 46
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 47
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 48
James Ehnes (violin), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 49
Pavel Kolesnikov (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
No. 50
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
