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- <text id=93HT0587>
- <title>
- 1983: Music
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1983 Highlights
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- January 2, 1984
- MUSIC
- BEST OF '83
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>Classical
- </p>
- <p>Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (Archive). Trevor Pinnock leads
- his crack English Concert in crisp, exuberant performances.
- </p>
- <p>Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin: Two Portraits (Deutsche
- Grammophon). Bartok's bloodcurdling ballet gets an elemental
- reading from Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony.
- </p>
- <p>Elliott Carter: Night Fantasies; Piano Sonata (Nonesuch). One
- of the landmarks of 20th century keyboard music, the Sonata
- (1945-46) is definitively interpreted by the late Paul Jacobs.
- </p>
- <p>Copland: Short Symphony; Ives: Symphony No. 3 (Pro Arte).
- Quintessential slices of orchestral Americana, lovingly realized
- by Dennis Russell Davies and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
- </p>
- <p>Charles Tomlinson Griffes: Piano Music (Nonesuch). Griffes'
- unique brand of American romantic impressionism gets a
- persuasive reassessment from Noel Lee.
- </p>
- <p>Philip Glass: Koyaanisqatsi (Antilles). The minimalist sound
- track from the movie stands on its own as a symphonic suite of
- rare power and passion.
- </p>
- <p>Janacek: Jenufa (London). The greatest of Leos Janacek's nine
- operas gets a recording worthy of its stature from Sir Charles
- Mackerras and Soprano Elizabeth Soderstrom.
- </p>
- <p>Puccini: La Rondine (CBS Masterworks). Kiri Te Kanawa,
- Placido Domingo and Conductor Lorin Maazel star in Puccini's
- unaccountably neglected confectioner's delight.
- </p>
- <p>Verdi: Falstaff (Deutsche Grammophon). Renato Bruson is an
- autumnal Sir John in Carlo Maria Guilini's bittersweet live
- recording.
- </p>
- <p>Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Philips). Soprano Hildegard
- Behrens is a stellar Wagnerian in Leonard Bernstein's
- incandescent performance of the most erotic of operas.
- </p>
- <p>Rock and Jazz
- </p>
- <p>David Bowie: Let's Dance (EMI America). Smooth and elegant,
- like the edge of a new knife, this sharp, soulful album marked
- Bowie's return to top form.
- </p>
- <p>Culture Club: Colour by Numbers (Virgin). Lead Singer Boy
- George may look like Peter Pan at a transvestite Mardi Gras, but
- this band purveys a straight and joyous brand of pop.
- </p>
- <p>Wynton Marsalis: Think of One (Columbia). Mathematical
- arabesques on the trumpet by a 22-year old who is fast turning
- from a prodigy into a world-class pro.
- </p>
- <p>Malcolm McLaren: Duck Rock (Island). The year's funniest and
- most slaphappy dance record mixes Zulu chants, New York City
- Jump-rope songs and hip-hop street culture into an
- anthropological jamboree.
- </p>
- <p>Randy Newman: Trouble in Paradise (Warner Bros.). Part
- stand-up comedy, part The Day of the Locust: Newman's best since
- 1972's Sail Away.
- </p>
- <p>Linda Ronstadt and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra: What's New
- (Asylum). Nine standards, done straight, by a pop queen
- collaborating with an old orchestra master. It must have seemed
- crazy, but it's a hit and seemingly effortless tour de force.
- </p>
- <p>Paul Simon: Hearts and Bones (Warner Bros.). The finest album
- yet by one of the best songwriters in anybody's neighborhood.
- </p>
- <p>Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues (Sire). SoHo soul and
- uptown rhythm: nobody mixes it up better.
- </p>
- <p>U2: War (Island). Righteous rock with social savvy, fierce as
- a street fight.
- </p>
- <p>X: More Fun in the New World (Elektra). The New Wave rolls on:
- if William S. Burroughs fronted a garage band, it would sound
- like this.</p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
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