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- January 7, 1985MUSICBEST OF '84
-
-
- Classical
-
- GEORGE ANTHEIL. LA FEMME 100 TETES (CRI). Pianist David Albee
- plays 45 wildly inventive preludes (1933) by the bad boy of
- American music.
-
- BACH. THE UNACCOMPANIED CELLO SUITES (CBS Masterworks).
- Patrician readings by Yo-Yo Ma of the cello literature's most
- challenging test.
-
- BRAHMS: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 (Deutsche Grammophon). Krystian
- Zimerman and Leonard Bernstein give the ferocious concerto a
- lofty performance.
-
- MOZART: REQUIEM (L'OISEAU-LYRE). Christopher Hogwood
- fervently leads Musicologist Richard Maunder's new edition of
- the unfinished masterpiece.
-
- ORFF: CARMINA BURANA (London). Conductor Riccardo Chailly
- gives Orff's Wheel of Fortune a lusty spin.
-
- RACHMANINOFF: SYMPHONY NO. 2 (Angel). Simon Rattle leads the
- Los Angeles Philharmonic in a complete version of the romantic
- score.
-
- RAMEAU: PYGMALION (Erato). Conductor Nicholas McGegan's
- graceful performance of the gentle opera-ballet.
-
- SCHUMANN: KINDERSZENEN: ARABESQUE. BRAHMS: PIANO WORKS
- (Nonesuch). Ivan Moravec has it all: taste, technique and the
- talent to combine the two.
-
- RICHARD STRAUSS: DER ROSENKAVALIER (Deutsche Grammophon).
- Herbert von Karajan leads a sterling silver cast in Strauss's
- nostalgic Viennese nosegay.
-
- VERDI: MACBETH (Philips). Renato Bruson is a driven Scottish
- thane under Giuseppe Sinopoli's electric leadership.
-
- Rock
-
- RUBEN BLADES Y SEIS DEL SOLAR: BUSCANDO AMERICA
- (Elektra/Asylum). The title translates as "Searching for
- America." But no translation is necessary to catch the salsa
- rhythms and deft jazz inflections that surround these political
- parables.
-
- THE DEL-LORDS: FRONTIER DAYS (EMI/America). A major-label
- debut by a hang-tough New York band.
-
- LITTLE STEVEN & THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL: VOICE OF AMERICA
- (EMI/America). Vast thematic ambition and a heart big enough
- to bring it off.
-
- MALCOLM MCLAREN: FANS (Island). The man who launched the Sex
- Pistols takes a shot at opera. Surprise: it's lyrical and
- funny.
-
- THE NEVILLE BROTHERS: NEVILLE-IZATION (Black Top).
- Cosmopolitan funk, New Orleans style.
-
- ELVIS PRESLEY: ELVIS -- A GOLDEN CELEBRATION (RCA). Six
- volumes of the King's first big-time salvos.
-
- THE PRETENDERS: LEARNING TO CRAWL (Sire). Music for dancing
- along the jagged edge.
-
- PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION: PURPLE RAIN (Warner Bros.). Maybe
- the greatest original sound-track score since rock came to
- movies.
-
- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: BORN IN THE U.S.A. (Columbia). Songs about
- bad memories and blind hope: rock record of the year.
-
- PETER WOLF: LIGHTS OUT (EMI/America). The lead singer of the
- J. Geils Band flies solo and earns his wings.
-
-