home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- January 2, 1984
-
- THE BEST OF 1983
-
- Classical
-
- Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (Archive). Trevor Pinnock leads his crack
- English Concert in crisp, exuberant performances.
-
- Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin: Two Portraits (Deutsche Grammophon).
- Bartok's bloodcurdling ballet gets an elemental reading from Claudio
- Abbado and the London Symphony.
-
- 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.
-
- 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.
-
- Charles Tomlinson Griffes: Piano Music (Nonesuch). Griffes' unique
- brand of American romantic impressionism gets a persuasive
- reassessment from Noel Lee.
-
- Philip Glass: Koyaanisqatsi (Antilles). The minimalist sound track
- from the movie stands on its own as a symphonic suite of rare power
- and passion.
-
- 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.
-
- Puccini: La Rondine (CBS Masterworks). Kiri Te Kanawa, Placido
- Domingo and Conductor Lorin Maazel star in Puccini's unaccountably
- neglected confectioner's delight.
-
- Verdi: Falstaff (Deutsche Grammophon). Renato Bruson is an autumnal
- Sir John in Carlo Maria Guilini's bittersweet live recording.
-
- Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Philips). Soprano Hildegard Behrens is a
- stellar Wagnerian in Leonard Bernstein's incandescent performance of
- the most erotic of operas.
-
- Rock and Jazz
-
- 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.
-
- 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.
-
- 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.
-
- Malcolm McLarent: 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.
-
- 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.
-
- 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.
-
- Paul Simon: Hearts and Bones (Warner Bros.). The finest album yet
- by one of the best songwriters in anybody's neighborhood.
-
- Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues (Sire). SoHo soul and uptown
- rhythm: nobody mixes it up better.
-
- U2: War (Island). Righteous rock with social savvy, fierce as a
- street fight.
-
- 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.