The Year's Best

CLASSICAL

LISZT: TWELVE TRANSCENDENTAL ETUDES; HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY NO. 3; SPANISH RHAPSODY (Melodiya/Columbia, 2 LPs). Lazar Berman, the latest superstar from Russia, in an electrifying display of pianistic fireworks.

HAYDN: QUARTETS, OP. 64, NO. 5 ("LARK") AND OP. 76, NO. 2 ("QUINTEN") (Cleveland Quartet; RCA). Two of the most subtle and spirited string quartets--crisply performed--from the pen of the man who virtually invented the form.

FRENCH OPERA ARIAS; FREDERICA VON STADE (Columbia). The U.S.'s current operatic sweetheart gives a few lessons in what the French aria is all about.

WAGNER: DIE MEISTERSINGER (London. 5 LPs). Sir Georg Solti and an eloquent cast--notably Britain's Norman Bailey as a wise and warm Sachs--present the finest recorded performance yet of this operatic masterpiece.

WORKS BY SCHUBERT, MENDELSSOHN, BERLIOZ, TCHAIKOVSKY, DEBUSSY, RESPIGHI AND STRAUSS (Philadelphia Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini conducting; RCA, 5 LPs). The first complete release of a series of recordings made in 1941-42 finds the conductor producing spacious, clear-textured virtuoso performances.

POP

CHARLES CHRISTOPHER PARKER JR.: BIRD (Savoy, 2 LPs). Now's the Time, Ko Ko, Billie's Bounce--plus 27 more master takes make up the best of the fabled alto-saxophonist's Savoy recordings.

LINDA RONSTADT: HASTEN DOWN THE WIND (Asylum). Country pop's top woman vocalist swings from primal blues to sunny Mexicali rock.

STEVIE WONDER: SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (Tamla/Motown, 2 LPs). A jamboree of songs, composed, sung, played and produced by that one-man music company known as Stevie Wonder.

BOSTON (Epic). Heavy metal's big bust-out band of the year, these five rockers from Beantown stir up a sonic maelstrom in a flashy fusion of acoustic and electronic sounds.

CHESTER & LESTER (RCA). A pair of good ole boys click in a cheerful studio jam as Les Paul's familiar slipping, sliding notes trace a delicate web around Chet Atkin's crisp licks.

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