Given its monumental scale and the extreme pianistic demands it (still) makes of the performer, any new recording of Beethoven's Hammerklavier should be an event, the most memorable of musical occasions. This one certainly is—but nothing less should be expected of one of the year's most keenly awaited piano releases: Marc-André Hamelin's account of the mighty Op 106. Along with the coupling—the third of Beethoven's early Op 2 sonatas, the longest and most powerful of the set—October's Record of the Month is an album which no one remotely interested in Beethoven, the piano, or indeed music, can afford to miss.

Radically different piano repertoire—albeit from a similar period—is to be found on the enigmatically titled Unplayed Stories … in 40 Fingers. A piano concerto album like no other, this is a collection of Romantic discoveries and reconstructions of works for up to four pianists and orchestra, played by members of the MultiPiano Ensemble with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin conducted by Ivor Bolton. By a gradual process of metamorphosis (often involving the work of several contributors), music which began life for one or two pianos here finds itself with an orchestra and additional pianist(s) in tow, and the results are a delight.

Vinyl aficionados take note: the first five releases in our Vinyl Edition—a series which will (re)introduce some classic Hyperion recordings to the world of 33 rpm—are issued this month. Four of the five are new to vinyl, having previously been available only on CD and to download or stream, while all have been chosen to represent the Hyperion label at its very best.

Where else to start than with Saint Hildegard of Bingen’s A feather on the breath of God from Gothic Voices and Emma Kirkby? Last available on vinyl more than thirty years ago, this remains a crucially important release in the Hyperion story, having been the album which introduced generations of listeners to the joys of medieval music. The remaining four showcase some of Hyperion’s most distinguished instrumentalists. Alina Ibragimova offers a welcome and unusual pairing of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concertos—and make no mistake, this remains one of the great accounts of the evergreen E minor concerto. A similar claim could justifiably be made for Marc-André Hamelin’s famous recording of the two Shostakovich Piano Concertos, while Stephen Hough’s set of Chopin’s Complete Waltzes demonstrates his unique affinity for this composer. And Angela Hewitt’s 2015 re-recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations represents a devotion which has over the years redefined Bach performance on the piano, resulting in the many celebrated recordings which are a cornerstone of the Hyperion catalogue.

All five albums are released as limited edition LPs, presented in full-colour gatefolds and including sleeve notes—a real treat for record collectors.

Forgotten Dances is Alessio Bax's ninth solo album for Signum Classics. 'Among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public' (Gramophone), his programme is a wide-ranging celebration of musical dance forms, exploring Bach and Bartók, Manuel de Falla and Liszt, and including wild re-imaginings by Leopold Godowsky and György Cziffra.

A new triple album from Signum brings us Beethoven: The middle quartets, the second instalment in an award-winning cycle from the Calidore String Quartet. Here we have the three 'Rasumovsky' quartets of Op 59, plus the 'Harp' and 'Serioso' quartets, respectively Op 74 and 95. Dating from the first decade of the nineteenth century, these quartets sit at the very pinnacle of the genre, and in performances to match.

Intriguingly titled and utterly captivating, Chamber Music by James Joyce is a collection of eighteen choral settings—many with instrumental contributions from members of the fine Solstice Ensemble—celebrating the Irish poet's eponymous collection. All commissioned by Desmond Earley and the University College Dublin Choral Scholars specially for this album (and there is a second instalment to follow), these are works well worth exploring. Also on Signum Classics we have two new releases showcasing a composer new to this website: Brian Elias' Music for wind and Music for strings reveal works of painstaking craftsmanship and discernment, and boast performances by—among others—Natalie Clein, Danny Driver, and the Sacconi and Castalian Quartets.

Nightfall—a new album from Voces 8 and Decca Classics—offers listeners an hour of crepuscular languor, with meditative tracks from composers as diverse as Max Reger, Kerensa Briggs and Ludovico Einaudi.

Venus & Adonis by Rodrigo Ruiz is a new cycle of seventeen songs setting verses from Shakespeare's lust-fuelled epic of unrequited love. Commissioned and performed by soprano Grace Davidson, here with George Herbert at the piano, this album from Signum represents an exciting addition to the repertoire.

When Sir Antonio Pappano and the mighty forces of the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus gave their warmly received performances of Mendelssohn's Elijah at the Barbican in January, the engineers of LSO Live were pleasingly on-hand to capture the results. The soloists enjoying Mendelssohn's angelic flights of fancy are Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and Dame Sarah Connolly, while Allan Clayton and Gerald Finley take the roles of the duelling prophets.

Alfred Brendel (b1931) needs no introduction; as one of the most notable pianists of the second half of the 20th century, his many recordings have been reissued repeatedly. But there is one small corner of his recorded legacy that remains almost unknown—the LPs he recorded at the start of his career for SPA (The Society of Participating Artists). Thanks to the historical piano label APR we now have the chance to hear Alfred Brendel: Busoni & Liszt, incorporating the first-ever recording of Liszt's Weihnachtsbaum and—with an informative note from Brendel himself—Busoni's epic Fantasia Contrappuntistica.