As we reflect on the year gone by, WFMT salutes the contributions of members of the arts community who died this past year.

“Mostly when you sing in the opera house you have this wall of sound in front of you and the only thing is to go and sing as loud as you can, and this is not making music,” she said. “It’s 80 against one, and you will never win.”

Maestro Harry Bicket shared what’s in his “little box of tricks” to help musicians in modern orchestras sound period perfect.

Here are 10 albums from 2016 that stood out because of the incredible performances, the repertoire, the historical significance, or all of the above.