Best 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.