November’s New Releases 2025
25/11/2025
Klaus Mäkelä, Golda Shultz & Jennifer Johnston - Mahler’s monumental symphony No.8
Klaus Mäkelä and the Concertgebouw Orchestra have released a new recording of Mahler’s monumental Symphony No.8 on Decca Classics, available as a digital worldwide release on 7 November, and as a physical disc for Japanese and Korean audiences, to coincide with Klaus and the orchestra’s first tour of Asia together. The work was recorded during two sold-out performances at Amsterdam’s Mahler Festival on 16 and 18 May 2025, which also brought together HP Voice soloists Golda Szhultz and Jennifer Johnston alongside Hailey Clark, Okka von der Damerau, Giorgio Berrugi, Michael Nagy, Tareq Nazmi and Miriam Kutrowatz, as well as singers from the Netherlands Radio Choir, Choeur de l’Orchestre de Paris, Laurens Symfonisch, and Dutch National Children’s and Boys’ Choirs.
Patrick Hahn - Gottfried von Einem: Capriccio, Concerto for Orchestra & Hexameron
Linn is thrilled to release an all von Einem album with the sought after conductor Patrick Hahn and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Rarely recorded, Gottfried von Einem (1918 – 1996) was one of Austria’s most significant 20th-century composers, internationally renowned for his operas. Although celebrated for his early orchestral works like Capriccio and Concerto for Orchestra, von Einem’s resistance to the Nazi regime and refusal to conform to postwar avant-garde trends marked him as both principled and uncompromising. A student of Hindemith and Blacher, von Einem blended jazz, neo-classicism, and expressionism into a distinctive voice that remained rooted in tonality. In his words, ‘For me, music technique is a gospel, and tonality is part of that gospel’. The album closes with the late Hexameron, revealing a more austere but still vibrant style
Daníel Bjarnason - LUX
Daníel Bjarnason collaborated with Spanish singer Rosalía on her monumental, genre-bending fourth album LUX, released on 7 November to universal acclaim. The album features Daníel conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on all tracks, which blend 14 languages and multiple genres. With this album, Rosalía broke the record for most first-day Spotify streams by a female Spanish-language artist. The album tracks a widescreen emotional arc of feminine mystique, transformation, and spirituality — moving between intimacy and operatic scale, and its musical stylings have established a unique bridge between the sometimes disparate worlds of pop and classical music.
Jean Rondeau — Louis Couperin: The Complete Works
On 14 November, harpsichordist Jean Rondeau released his latest album with Warner Classics/Erato: Louis Couperin: The Complete Works. Comprising 10 albums and 1 DVD, this release is the culmination of years of intensive work by Rondeau. In his own words, Rondeau deems the project “one of the most important of my life as a keyboard player” due to both its “extraordinary richness and prolific content” and Couperin’s adeptness at writing for the harpsichord and organ: “he knew how to make these instruments sing and vibrate like no one before him and probably no one after him either.”
The works of Louis Couperin also form a core part of Rondeau’s 2025/26 season. At the Utrecht Early Music Festival in September, he performed no less than six recitals in just over three days, thus covering the complete oeuvre of Couperin. Rondeau will undertake a similar ‘marathon’ at La cité de la musique — Philharmonie de Paris from 22 – 24 November, and, later in the season, will bring Couperin to venues including the London’s Wigmore Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and venues across Japan.
Víkingur Ólafsson - Opus 109 — Beethoven · Bach · Schubert
21 November marks the release of Víkingur Ólafsson’s latest album on Deutsche Grammophon: Opus 109 — Beethoven · Bach · Schubert (listen here). At its heart is Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op.109 – a masterpiece of the composer’s late period – which Ólafsson places in an illuminating and thrilling temporal dialogue, tracing the musical and historical lineages that converge on this beacon of the piano literature. Known for his inspired programming, Ólafsson juxtaposes the work with music by J.S. Bach and Schubert, as well as Beethoven’s own earlier Sonata in E minor, Op.90. Read more about the album here.
Kahchun Wong — Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 In C Minor, ‘resurrection’
7 November saw the release of Kahchun Wong’s third recording with The Hallé of Mahler’s Symphony No.2. The recording was captured live at a Bridgewater Hall concert in January 2025 with soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, The Hallé Choir and The Hallé Youth Choir.
Leila Josefowicz — Adès: The Exterminating Angel Symphony & Violin Concerto
Joining forces with the Minnesota Orchestra and their music director Thomas Søndergård, Leila Josefowicz records Thomas Adès’ Violin Concerto – Concentric Paths.
Having received the handwritten score of the violin concerto before the printed version (2005) was made, Josefowicz has a long-standing relationship to this work, mentioning that she ‘passionately fell in love with it and became obsessed’.
This album, released on 14 November 2025, marks the PENTATONE debut of the Minnesota Orchestra and Leila Josefowicz, available as physical CD and available streaming platforms.
Pizzicato – Five stars: “Josefowicz finds a convincingly sensitive approach, developing her imaginatively illuminated interpretation from her stupendous technical abilities.”
The Times, November 2025: “File this release under ‘sonic spectaculars’”
★★★★
Pierre-Laurent Aimard continues his exploration of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier with the release of Book II on Pentatone, available digitally from 24 October.
Ten years after his widely praised interpretation of Book I (Deutsche Grammophon, 2014), Aimard returns to this landmark cycle with a recording that reflects his deep connection to the work. In Aimard’s words:
“Each of the 48 pieces is unique and demands specific interpretative choices. The aim is to generate sound sources that respond to the polyphonic and expressive needs of each piece, and to let them breathe in the right acoustic space. I hope these choices honour the unsurpassed synthesis of styles that gives this monumental work its enduring value as a testament of its time.”
Coinciding with the album’s release, Aimard will perform The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (in its entirety or selected excerpts) in a series of solo recitals throughout the autumn and in 2026. For more information, visit the artist’s official page.
Katharina Konradi — Franz Liszt: Complete French Songs for Soprano, Vol.3
Katharina Konradi brings her radiant voice to the third volume of Liszt’s complete French songs, an album devoted to his settings of Victor Hugo and other poets. This imaginative sequence reveals Liszt’s rare command of the French language and offers listeners both his final versions and intriguing alternatives, a compelling journey through the elegance and drama of his mélodies. This album offers an imaginative sequence of Hugo-inspired songs, presenting Liszt’s final versions alongside fascinating alternatives, a unique opportunity to experience the richness and variety of his French mélodies.
Featured: Hugh Tieppo-Brunt
Hania Rani – Non Fiction: Piano Concerto in Four Movements
Released on 14 November by Decca, Hania Rani’s Non Fiction marks a bold new chapter in her career, bridging classical tradition and contemporary sound worlds. Conducted and orchestrated by Hugh Tieppo-Brunt and recorded with Manchester Collective. The recording captures the concerto’s sweeping orchestral textures with precision and sensitivity, ensuring Rani’s vision resonates in full colour.
Featured: Hugh Tieppo-Brunt
Max Richter – Hamnet
Max Richter’s Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao was released on the 21 November is inspired by Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel, a deeply moving work that explores themes of love and loss. Hugh Tieppo-Brunt plays a key role in bringing Richter’s score to life, guiding the ensemble with clarity and nuance to create an immersive listening experience on this Decca release.
