AllMusic's Favorite Classical Vocal Albums of 2012

2012 saw a great number of classical vocal music releases, from complete song cycles to complete opera cycles, medieval to brand-spanking-new music, favorite artists to up-and-comers, and everything in between. What's listed here are what our classical reviewers found to be the best of what they heard during the year.

Stephen Eddins
Capilla Flamenca, Het Collectief - 12 x 12: A Musical Zodiac
Markellos Chryssicos, Venice Baroque Orchestra - Olympiade: The Opera
Ensemble Clement Janequin, Les Sacqueboutiers - Rabelais: Fay ce que vouldras
eX - Shipwrecked
Renée Fleming - Poèmes
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh - Song of Farewell: Music of Mourning & Consolation
Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Orchestra - Massenet: Don Quichotte
Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Gent- Bach: Missa in h-moll
Robert Hollingworth, I Fagiolini - 1612: Italian Vespers
Lorraine Hunt, David Daniels, Dawn Upshaw - Handel: Theodora
Neeme Jarvi, Janice Watson, Peter Auty, Peter Rose - Dvorak: Stabat Mater
The King's Singers - Royal Rhymes and Rounds
Magdalena Kozená - Love and Longing
Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava - Peteris Vasks: Plainscapes
James Levine, Fabio Luisi, The Metropolitan Opera - Twilight of the Gods: The Ultimate Wagner Ring Collection
Los Angeles Master Chorale, Grant Gershon - Górecki: Miserere
Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner - Bach: Motets
Anne Sofie von Otter - Sogno Barocco
Mark Padmore - Benjamin Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings
Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata - Pájaros Perdidos
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra - Shostakovich: Prologue to 'Orango'; Symphony No. 4
Arianna Savall, Petter Udland Johansen - Hirundo Maris: Chants du Sud et du Nord
Tonus Peregrinus - Music from the Eton Choirbook
Voces8 - Christmas
Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve - Filia Sion
Eric Whitacre, Eric Whitacre Singers, London Symphony Orchestra - Eric Whitacre: Water Night
Jaap van Zweden, Reinbert de Leeuw, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic - Britten: War Requiem

James Manheim
Cecilia Bartoli - Mission
Véronique Gens, John Axelrod - Berlioz: Herminie; Les Nuits d'été; Ravel: Shéhérazade
Damien Guillon, Le Banquet Céleste - Bach: Cantates BWV 170 & 35
Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Gent - Tomás Luis de Victoria: Officium Defunctorum
Hilliard Ensemble - Carlo Gesualdo: Quinto Libro di Madrigali
Sigiswald Kuijken, La Petite Bande - Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri
Patricia Petibon, La Cetra, Andrea Marcon - Nouveau Monde: Baroque Arias and Songs
Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge - Mozart: "Coronation" Mass; Ave Verum Corpus; Exsultate, JubilateAntoni Wit, Ewa Wolak, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra - Brahms: Choral Music