December’s New Album Releases 2025
10/1/2025
A Plastic Theatre – Joanna Marsh, including mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston
The album A Plastic Theatre, was released on the Hyperion label on 31 December, it unfolds in five distinct acts, each exploring the complex relationship between humanity and plastic. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston brings profound emotional depth to this narrative, her rich, expressive voice capturing both the menace and melancholy of these discarded artefacts. Johnston’s performance bridges the artificial and the human, guiding listeners through the album’s haunting reflections on consumption, loss, and resilience.
Joe Hisaishi – Mládi EP
Joe Hisaishi celebrates his 74th birthday with the release of his Mládi EP, launched on 6 December. Collaborating with the renowned Wiener Symphoniker, Hisaishi offers fresh, evocative arrangements of three iconic pieces from his film scores for director Takeshi Kitano. This release highlights Hisaishi’s signature blend of cinematic emotion and orchestral brilliance, reaffirming his place as a master composer.
Paavo Järvi — SCHUBERT SYMPHONIES No.7 & No.4
Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen released their new disc, Schubert: Symphonies Vol. 1: No.7 & No.4, on RCA Red Seal / Sony Classical on 5 December 2025. This recording marks the start of a five-volume cycle of Schubert’s seven completed symphonies and the beloved “Unfinished” Symphony No.7, as well as selected overtures, to be completed by 2028. This first disc pairs the “Unfinished” Symphony No.7 with the “Tragic” Symphony No.4, and has already been declared Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice for January 2026, with Richard Wigmore stating that “Järvi and his Bremen players moved me as much as any performance I know.”
This disc was released to coincide with Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s latest tour to Vienna and Cologne, as well as performances in Bremen.
Following their performance of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony in Vienna earlier this year, Der Standard wrote: “The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, under Paavo Järvi, gave one of the most outstanding concerts of recent decades at the Musikverein … Could there be anyone better?”
