Robin Ticciati & SCO - Haydn: Symphonies 31, 70 & 101 - Colorado Public Radio

Santa isn't the only one making a list this time of year. You also see "Best of 2015" lists popping up everywhere. 

We looked at hundreds of releases in 2015 to find the best new recordings to play for you on CPR Classical each day, and shared highlights online each month. Here are the releases that stuck around in our minds, our hearts, and our ears as our favorites. 

Each one of our staff members has picked a highlight CD and I've chosen 10 more for a list that includes new compositions alongside established masterworks. Several very impressive Colorado performances are rightfully here alongside international superstars, too. 

We hope you've enjoyed discovering some of these excellent new discs with us this year, and we look forward to new exciting discoveries in 2016.

Here are three Haydn symphonies, each in D major and each from a different period of Haydn's development. Robin Ticciati and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra deliver wonderfully fresh and bold readings of all three. These performances combine energy, flexibility,and excitement without losing polish or precision. Hearing Haydn with this much vitality gives a sense of why London went so crazy for his symphonies more than 200 years ago.