Enjoy new music with our classical music chart for this week. Our weekly selections are based on sales numbers and simply what albums we love and think you NEED to hear.
For the complete top 20, tune into Classical Chartz with the New Classical FM’s Mark Wigmore every Saturday from 3-5 p.m. Find the full Top 20 here.
That New Year’s glow is still with us — at least on the Classical Chartz. The Vienna Phil with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin still tops the Chartz at No. 1 with their New Year’s Concert 2026. At No. 2, Mikhail Pletnev and his recent release Chopin & Scriabin Preludes makes the leap up from No. 7, followed by Alexandra Whittingham’s Letters from Paris, which steps up from No. 4 to No. 3.
There are two newcomers to the Classical Chartz this week — Jóhann Jóhannsson: Piano Works by Alice Sara Ott, and Max Richter’s soundtrack for the hit film Hamnet.
Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969 – 2018) wrote music for a range of media, including works for theatre and dance as well as television and film. Much of his work blends orchestral and electronic elements. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his music for The Theory of Everything and Sicario, among other accolades.
Ott performs the recently published piano scores that reimagine his work. The release include some of his iconic works, such as music from The Theory of Everything, Copenhagen Dreams, and Free The Mind, along wth his concert works Englabörn, The Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky’s Turned Black, and many others. There are 30 tracks on the album in total.
German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2019, but she doesn’t seem to have let it slow her down. She’s kept up a busy performing scheduled, and released a string of recordings since then, including last year’s acclaimed recording of John Field Nocturnes, which spent several weeks on the Classical Chartz.
Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao’s film Hamnet explores the so-called lost years of William Shakespeare’s life, covering the period between the birth of his twins Judith and Hamnet in Stratford in 1585, and his emergence as an actor and playwright in London in 1592.
The story, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name, revolves largely around his relationship with his wife, Agnes Hathaway, played by Jessie Buckley. It’s an emotional story of love and loss, as the couple tries to cope with the death of their son. Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare.
Richter’s soundtrack enhances the emotional base of the story. In it, he uses his 2004 piece “On the Nature of Daylight” along with music written for the film. On the Nature of Daylight was written, according to Richter, as a protest against the Iraq War, and appears on his second album. He called the piece his attempt to create “luminous material out of the darkest materials”. It’s a fitting addition to the movie’s score, and appears during the film’s peak climactic scene.
The soundtrack has been nominated for more than 100 awards, and is shortlisted for an Academy Award.
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