Those Lovable Russians

In one field, at least, the Russians were still ace-high with Americans last week. Billboard magazine reported that their classical composers led the U.S. hit parade in 1947. And the most popular of them all was Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. Victor listed his Nutcracker Suite, Piano Concerto No. 1 and Violin Concerto among its top best-selling classical albums of the year, and Nutcracker was one of Columbia's big sellers, too.

Another Russian had the best-selling single classical album. Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 sold well in two versions: one recorded by Rachmaninoff himself 15 years before his death, and one by Artur Rubinstein. All year long, Rachmaninoff's 47-year-old piece had seesawed for first place with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and finally won out.

In his first year on U.S. records, Soviet Composer Aram Khachaturian (TIME, Nov. 10) got in the top 15 with his flashy Gayane Ballet Suite and his trashy Piano Concerto. Beethoven, usually voted a top favorite in most U.S. bull-session polls, made the list with two piano sonatas, the Moonlight and Pathetique, neither of which rates tops with highbrow critics. Pianist Jose Iturbi led the single record best-sellers with Debussy's Clair de Lune and a firm version of Chopin's much-mutilated A-Flat Polonaise.

In popular music, Alfred Bryan & Fred Fisher's 34-year-old hit Peg o' My Heart (TIME, July 7) was the top song of the year. But the biggest record-seller was Francis Craig's tinkling Near You, which skyrocketed a dime-a-dozen record company (Bullet) into the big money. Top-selling bands on records: Vaughn Monroe and Ted Weems. Among girl singers, Jo Stafford, for her mock hillbilly disc of Timtayshun, rated twice as high in hit-tune sales as Dinah Shore. Perry Como was easily the top record-seller among the crooners. Most surprising fadeout of the year: Frank Sinatra, who wasn't even listed among Billboard's eight top male singers.

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