Last Thursday (December 12) Gramophone's contributors and editorial team gathered at Durrants Hotel in London to toast the venerable 90-year-old magazine with Ben Allen – the CEO of the new owners of Gramophone, the Mark Allen Group. Christmas drinks at Durrants is an annual tradition dating back decades. It is an opportunity to look back at the outstanding recordings of the last 12 months and forward to those recordings that may be in contention for a gong at next year's Gramophone Awards. Watch this space, as they say...

Follow the link to read Gramophone's free digital magazine dedicated to the best classical recordings of 2013

Click the first photograph to launch the gallery (Photos by Lucie Carlier)