Opera may be conspicuous by its absence, but the brilliance of Berlin Philharmonic’s Schoenberg and the exceptional South Korean Yunchan Lim gave us plenty to sink our teeth into this year

The survey of the new releases that my colleagues and I have enjoyed most in 2025 differs in one significant respect from the lists of previous years. This year’s top ten contains no operas. There has been a profound change in record companies’ policies of how and what they record. The glitzy, studio-based opera recordings of the last century now seem impossible to contemplate, and even releasing audio-only recordings taken directly from live opera-house performances often seems less viable than issuing DVDs of the same productions.

Some specialist labels devoted to specific areas of the operatic repertoire continue sterling work: operas feature prominently in Bru Zane ’s mission on behalf of neglected French composers, while Opera Rara continues to crusade for forgotten, mostly 19th century, mostly Italian, scores which this year included the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Other companies continue to find treasures in Europe’s apparently inexhaustible baroque archives, while, on its own label, the London Symphony Orchestra has continued to release Simon Rattle’s Janáček series taken from his concert performances with the orchestra at the Barbican, the latest release being Jenůfa . If full-length operas are notably scarce in the schedules of the major companies, two exceptions this year were Decca’s release of the Oslo-sourced Flying Dutchman , with Lise Davidsen and Gerald Finley, and Deutsche Grammophon’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk , part of Andris Nelson’s Boston-based Shostakovich series, both of which proved less than overwhelming.

Opera may be conspicuous by its absence, but the brilliance of Berlin Philharmonic’s Schoenberg and the exceptional South Korean Yunchan Lim gave us plenty to sink our teeth into this year

The survey of the new releases that my colleagues and I have enjoyed most in 2025 differs in one significant respect from the lists of previous years. This year’s top ten contains no operas. There has been a profound change in record companies’ policies of how and what they record. The glitzy, studio-based opera recordings of the last century now seem impossible to contemplate, and even releasing audio-only recordings taken directly from live opera-house performances often seems less viable than issuing DVDs of the same productions.

Some specialist labels devoted to specific areas of the operatic repertoire continue sterling work: operas feature prominently in Bru Zane ’s mission on behalf of neglected French composers, while Opera Rara continues to crusade for forgotten, mostly 19th century, mostly Italian, scores which this year included the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Other companies continue to find treasures in Europe’s apparently inexhaustible baroque archives, while, on its own label, the London Symphony Orchestra has continued to release Simon Rattle’s Janáček series taken from his concert performances with the orchestra at the Barbican, the latest release being Jenůfa . If full-length operas are notably scarce in the schedules of the major companies, two exceptions this year were Decca’s release of the Oslo-sourced Flying Dutchman , with Lise Davidsen and Gerald Finley, and Deutsche Grammophon’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk , part of Andris Nelson’s Boston-based Shostakovich series, both of which proved less than overwhelming.

Opera may be conspicuous by its absence, but the brilliance of Berlin Philharmonic’s Schoenberg and the exceptional South Korean Yunchan Lim gave us plenty to sink our teeth into this year

The survey of the new releases that my colleagues and I have enjoyed most in 2025 differs in one significant respect from the lists of previous years. This year’s top ten contains no operas. There has been a profound change in record companies’ policies of how and what they record. The glitzy, studio-based opera recordings of the last century now seem impossible to contemplate, and even releasing audio-only recordings taken directly from live opera-house performances often seems less viable than issuing DVDs of the same productions.

Some specialist labels devoted to specific areas of the operatic repertoire continue sterling work: operas feature prominently in Bru Zane ’s mission on behalf of neglected French composers, while Opera Rara continues to crusade for forgotten, mostly 19th century, mostly Italian, scores which this year included the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Other companies continue to find treasures in Europe’s apparently inexhaustible baroque archives, while, on its own label, the London Symphony Orchestra has continued to release Simon Rattle’s Janáček series taken from his concert performances with the orchestra at the Barbican, the latest release being Jenůfa . If full-length operas are notably scarce in the schedules of the major companies, two exceptions this year were Decca’s release of the Oslo-sourced Flying Dutchman , with Lise Davidsen and Gerald Finley, and Deutsche Grammophon’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk , part of Andris Nelson’s Boston-based Shostakovich series, both of which proved less than overwhelming.

Slew of allegations of sexual harassment hits party already battered by corruption claims and political setbacks

• Europe live – latest updates

Spain’s ruling socialist party, which has been battered by a barrage of corruption allegations and political setbacks , is scrambling to reassert its feminist credentials after being accused of failing to act on sexual misconduct by senior men in the party.

Pedro Sánchez appointed 11 women and six men to his cabinet when he became prime minister in 2018, saying his Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) was “unmistakably committed to equality” and to reflecting recent changes in Spanish society.

Slew of allegations of sexual harassment hits party already battered by corruption claims and political setbacks

• Europe live – latest updates

Spain’s ruling socialist party, which has been battered by a barrage of corruption allegations and political setbacks , is scrambling to reassert its feminist credentials after being accused of failing to act on sexual misconduct by senior men in the party.

Pedro Sánchez appointed 11 women and six men to his cabinet when he became prime minister in 2018, saying his Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) was “unmistakably committed to equality” and to reflecting recent changes in Spanish society.

Slew of allegations of sexual harassment hits party already battered by corruption claims and political setbacks

• Europe live – latest updates

Spain’s ruling socialist party, which has been battered by a barrage of corruption allegations and political setbacks , is scrambling to reassert its feminist credentials after being accused of failing to act on sexual misconduct by senior men in the party.

Pedro Sánchez appointed 11 women and six men to his cabinet when he became prime minister in 2018, saying his Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) was “unmistakably committed to equality” and to reflecting recent changes in Spanish society.

• Operating profit up after £7m loss a year earlier

• United’s revenue down from £143.1m to £140.3m

Manchester United’s operating profit rose to £13m in the financial year’s first quarter compared with an equivalent £7m loss 12 months earlier, with the chief executive, Omar Berrada, stating this was down to “the difficult decisions made in the past year” by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Since Ratcliffe became the largest minority owner in February 2024, his budgetary adjustments have included making about 450 redundancies, which will take the head count to about 800. The Ineos chair has also ended Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial role, saving about £2m a-year, and cut free lunches for United employees.

• Operating profit up after £7m loss a year earlier

• United’s revenue down from £143.1m to £140.3m

Manchester United’s operating profit rose to £13m in the financial year’s first quarter compared with an equivalent £7m loss 12 months earlier, with the chief executive, Omar Berrada, stating this was down to “the difficult decisions made in the past year” by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Since Ratcliffe became the largest minority owner in February 2024, his budgetary adjustments have included making about 450 redundancies, which will take the head count to about 800. The Ineos chair has also ended Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial role, saving about £2m a-year, and cut free lunches for United employees.

• Operating profit up after £7m loss a year earlier

• United’s revenue down from £143.1m to £140.3m

Manchester United’s operating profit rose to £13m in the financial year’s first quarter compared with an equivalent £7m loss 12 months earlier, with the chief executive, Omar Berrada, stating this was down to “the difficult decisions made in the past year” by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Since Ratcliffe became the largest minority owner in February 2024, his budgetary adjustments have included making about 450 redundancies, which will take the head count to about 800. The Ineos chair has also ended Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial role, saving about £2m a-year, and cut free lunches for United employees.