Classical Album of the Year

2025 was a stellar year for new classical releases. For us, however, one album leapt out: Alice Sara Ott’s recording for Deutsche Grammophon of John Field’s 18 luminescent piano Nocturnes. Beautifully and insightfully performed, and intimately captured in enticing detail, Ott’s album proved not only our editors’ choice, but yours too, rising rapidly to become the most popular album of 2025, according to our global classical chart. “I remember discovering this music during the pandemic,” Ott tells Apple Music Classical. “I kind of knew Field’s name, but I didn't know his music. But I came across some of the recordings of the Nocturnes and just fell in love. It’s now been two or three years that I’ve been intensely playing these pieces. And now, to see a composer who has been almost forgotten make it to Album of the Year, is really incredible.” The early 19th-century Irish composer John Field has certainly suffered from under-exposure. Unjustly, given that he occupies an important place in piano history as the inventor of the Nocturne, a short free-form piece characterized by a long, intricate melody above a flowing accompaniment. Chopin heard Field’s Nocturnes as a young man, composed his own celebrated set based on Field’s models, and paved the way for Fauré, Debussy, Scriabin, and more to develop the genre even further. Several recordings have been made of Field’s Nocturnes over the decades, but Ott’s has succeeded in bringing these mesmerizing pieces deep into the mainstream, introducing the world of John Field to more new listeners than ever before. “I really hope that John Field will experience a sort of renaissance, and that more young musicians will also take it into the repertoire,” says Ott. “There’s so much beauty that is still to be discovered. And this music is just some of it.” Listeners on Apple Music Classical will be able to read our exclusive Listening Guide—real-time, time-synced notes that offer moment-by-moment insights into the music.

In this exclusive Track by Track, Alice Sara Ott provides fascinating and illuminating spoken commentary on each of John Field’s Nocturnes, packed with technical and musical details, historical context and personal insights.

Widely celebrated for her refined playing and captivating stage presence, the German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott is one of today’s most popular classical artists. After studying at the Salzburg Mozarteum, she found widespread acclaim at 19 with her debut Deutsche Grammophon album of Liszt’s Études d’exécution transcendante (2009). Subsequent albums of Chopin waltzes, Liszt and Tchaikovsky concertos, and Beethoven sonatas confirmed her as a player of considerable virtuosity and depth. Since 2015, Ott has explored more personal concepts in Wonderland (Grieg), Nightfall (Debussy, Satie, and Ravel), and Echoes of Life in which Chopin preludes are interwoven with modern works. Below, you can enjoy all of these albums, and more.

Born in Dublin in 1782, the Irish composer John Field showed a remarkable talent for the piano at an early age, and was performing in public from the age of 10. Recognizing they had a prodigy on their hands, Field’s parents moved the family to Bath, and then London where the boy had lessons with celebrated composer, performer, and piano maker, Muzio Clementi. There, in 1799, the 16-year-old Field premiered his own Piano Concerto No. 1. Three years later, in 1802, Clementi and Field set out on a piano sales trip to Russia that was to prove life-changing. Field eventually settled in St. Petersburg, where it’s thought he composed many of his piano works, including the 18 Nocturnes. In 1831, Field moved back to London for treatment for cancer, and for a time continued his performing career across Europe before returning to Moscow, where he died in 1837. In addition to Nocturnes, Field composed no less than seven piano concertos (admired by Chopin and Liszt), four piano sonatas and a host of miscellaneous works, all of which you can explore below.

Since early 2025, The Works has been your weekly guide to the finest new classical releases. This special end-of-year edition of the playlist features highlights from the year, including, of course, Alice Sara Ott’s revelatory recording of John Field’s Nocturnes for Deutsche Grammophon. Below, you can hear Ott’s luminous touch and dazzling precision—plus all of the other standout classical tracks of the past year.

Experience more of 2025’s finest classical music with these exceptional album picks, from Anastasia Kobekina’s life-affirming Bach Cello Suites, to Yunchan Lim’s joyful account of Tchaikovsky’s evocative piano suite The Seasons.