YEAR'S BEST

CLASSICAL. Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito (Philips, 3 LPs). Colin Davis & Co. reveal a glittering opera seria beneath the tarnish of neglect.

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (RCA). Not everyone's Rachmaninoff, but electrifying Horowitz.

Verdi: La Traviata (Deutsche Grammophon, 2 LPs). Conductor Carlos Kleiber gives a fresh, strikingly opinionated reading of an opera that is usually ill-served.

Beethoven: Sonatas for Violin and Piano (London, 5 LPs). Perlman and Ashkenazy in splendid musical partnership.

Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (Deutsche Grammophon, 2 LPs). Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic make Mahler even more immense than usual.

Vivaldi: Complete Sacred Choral Music, Vols. 1 and 2 (Philips, 2 LPs). Proof that Vivaldi could use massed choirs and orchestras in heavenly fashion.

Bravo Pavarotti! (London, 2 LPs). Unabashed grandstanding, but who can resist the voice?

Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas (Philips, 13 LPs); Beethoven: The Late Piano Sonatas (Deutsche Grammophon, 3 LPs). A connoisseur's choice: Alfred Brendel's fine detail or Maurizio Pollini's grand sonority.

Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite, Scherzo Fantastique, Symphonies of Wind Instruments (Columbia). Wonderfully sharp Stravinsky from another incisive composer-conductor, Pierre Boulez.

Schubert: String Quintet in C Major (Deutsche Grammophon). A fitting tribute to Schubert, from Rostropovich and the Melos Quartet Stuttgart.

POP. The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope (Epic). New Wave rock, smart, tough and, make no mistake, dangerous.

Ry Cooder: Jazz (Warner Bros.). Old jazz refurbished by a great instrumentalist.

Lee Dorsey: Night People (ABC). New Orleans R & B for the '70s, created by peerless Allen Toussaint, sung by a great master of soul.

Keith Jarrett: Sun Bear Concerts (ECM/Warner Bros.). Lyric dreams and vapor-trail improvisations on the jazz piano.

Nick Lowe: Pure Pop for Now People (Columbia). Roundhouse riffs soldered onto diabolical lyrics by a sardonic British rocker.

Van Morrison: Wavelength (Warner Bros.). "Lost dreams and found dreams in America": another album of Morrison magic.

John Prine: Bruised Orange (Asylum). A lot of folk, a touch of country, and plenty of grace and pain.

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: Hearts of Stone (Epic). Immaculately scruffy roadhouse rock played and sung at full tilt.

Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town (Columbia). Visions of challenge and redemption in nighttown America by a classic rock 'n' roller.

Warren Zevon: Excitable Boy (Asylum). "Send lawyers, guns and money/ Dad, get me out of this." Snub-nose tales of blown chances, aching loss and creatures that prowl the night, fused into a perfect genre piece by the foremost exponent of hard-boiled rock.

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