Best of '87

Classical

JOHN ADAMS: THE CHAIRMAN DANCES AND OTHER WORKS (Elektra/Nonesuch). Glenn Miller, minimalism and Mao: a lively orchestral gloss on the opera Nixon in China.

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9 (EMI). Lean and mean on original instruments, the mighty Ninth, brilliantly conducted by Roger Norrington.

GLASS: AKHNATEN (CBS/Masterworks). In the land of the Pharaohs, a radiant perspective on the religious revolutionary.

THE IMMORTAL FRITZ KREISLER (RCA). The fabled Viennese-born violinist in showpieces, bonbons and a quicksilver Beethoven sonata.

CARL NIELSEN: SYMPHONY NO. 1; LITTLE SUITE, OP. 1 (CBS/Masterworks). The neglected First Symphony, sizzling in the hands of the young Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.

RICHARD STRAUSS: ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (DG). Strauss's glowing score, brightened by Kathleen Battle's sparkling Zerbinetta and James Levine's energetic baton.

SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN: OVERTURES (Nimbus). From Patience to Pinafore, a Savoyard field day with the crack Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Alexander Faris.

TCHAIKOVSKY: VIOLIN CONCERTO; SIBELIUS: VIOLIN CONCERTO (Philips). Fiddle fireworks from Viktoria Mullova.

WALTON: SYMPHONY NO. 1; TWO MARCHES (Telarc). An exuberant symphony and a pair of rattling coronation marches, led by Andre Previn.

ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY: THE MERMAID (London). Long lost, a brooding tone poem and a late Romantic masterwork.

Rock

THE CALL: INTO THE WOODS (Elektra). Spiritual adventuring by a California band that dances well clear of high seriousness into a unique groove.

RY COODER: GET RHYTHM (Warner Bros.). Rock's supplest guitar. Any song here, old or new, clears the air like a sun-shower.

MARIANNE FAITHFULL: STRANGE WEATHER (Island). Eleven brokenhearted ballads by a singer who can handle high drama with no time out for self-pity.

JOHN HIATT: BRING THE FAMILY (A&M). A musical shakedown artist: tunes like Lipstick Sunset can lay bare any emotion by the end of the first verse.

THE HOUSEMARTINS: THE PEOPLE WHO GRINNED THEMSELVES TO DEATH (Elektra). A fast-moving band of Brits that uses a pared-down format to meet some serious social issues head on.

LITTLE STEVEN: FREEDOM -- NO COMPROMISE (EMI-Manhattan). The year's toughest political record.

PET SHOP BOYS: ACTUALLY (EMI-Manhattan). Supercool, supershrewd syntho-pop, London-style, with ironic lyrics so sharp and cold they cut like a scalpel made of ice.

ROBBIE ROBERTSON: ROBBIE ROBERTSON (Geffen). The Band's guiding light, finally stepping out on his own after eleven years and making sure it was all worth the wait.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: TUNNEL OF LOVE (Columbia). Another great record by the Boss. Act indifferent at your peril.

U2: THE JOSHUA TREE (Island). Record sales, concerts, radio play -- '87 was all theirs.