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´º¿åŸÀÓÁî¿¡¼­ ¿¬¸»¸¶´Ù ³ª¿À´Â ±×ÇØÀÇ Best CD ÀÔ´Ï´Ù... ´º¿åŸÀÓÁî ¸®ºä¾îµéÀÇ ÁÖ°üÀÌ µé¾î°¡ÀÖ±ä ÇÏÁö¸¸, Âü°í°¡ µÉ ¼ö ÀÖÀ» °Í°°¾Æ¼­.. ±Ùµ¥ µé¾îº» CD°¡ 4Àå¹Û¿¡ ¾ÈµÇ³×¿ä -.- The Best Classical CD's of 2004 The numbers before each entry refer to the image of the CD covers to the right. 1. BACH: 'WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER,' BOOK 1 Till Fellner, pianist (ECM New Series) Bach is basic. And no Bach is more basic than the "Well-Tempered Clavier." So it's fitting that one of the most substantive and rewarding recordings of the year is the young Austrian pianist Till Fellner's lucid and articulate accounts of the 24 preludes and fugues of Book 1. ANTHONY TOMMASINI 2. BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATAS NOS. 5-8 Maurizio Pollini, pianist (Deutsche Grammophon) Always a probing interpreter, Maurizio Pollini plays these works with a passion that his recordings have rarely captured so vividly. Forget the links to Haydn that pianists often underscore in early Beethoven. Mr. Pollini's magnified dynamic contrasts, driven tempos and sharp-edged phrasing make for stormy, high-drama readings that point the way toward full-fledged Romanticism. ALLAN KOZINN 3. BEETHOVEN: TRIPLE CONCERTO, CHORAL FANTASY Pierre-Laurent Aimard, pianist; Thomas Zehetmair, violinist; Clemens Hagen, cellist; Chamber Orchestra of Europe, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Warner Classics) The Triple Concerto is still sometimes considered an acquired taste, but not with this lineup of soloists. Here are three of the most thoughtful and engaging musicians around, playing with easy collegiality, earthy vigor, sparkling clarity and a dashing sense of style. The Choral Fantasy is a generous parting gift. JEREMY EICHLER 4. BIBER: 'ROSARY' SONATAS Andrew Manze, violinist; Richard Egarr, organist and harpsichordist (Harmonia Mundi France) Biber uses 15 different tunings to mold the violin's voice around his own poetic vision, and these sonatas, by turns serenely prayerful and brilliantly virtuosic, are some of the best pre-Bach violin music out there. Andrew Manze offers stylish and unfussy readings that mix reverence and whimsy in equal parts. JEREMY EICHLER 5. BOLCOM: 'SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE' University of Michigan School of Music Orchestra and Choruses, Leonard Slatkin (Naxos) William Bolcom worked on his settings of the 46 poems of William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" for 25 years. Leonard Slatkin conducts a gripping live performance of this ambitious masterpiece, over two hours of music for orchestra, multiple choruses and soloists that audaciously synthesizes wildly diverse musical styles. ANTHONY TOMMASINI 6. DAVIES: 'NAXOS' QUARTETS NOS. 1, 2 Maggini Quartet (Naxos) Here are the first two chapters in a 10-installment "novel" of linked quartets by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who turned 70 this year. They manage to combine intellectual rigor and impressionistic evocations of place (Orkney, Scotland) and time (Sir Peter's own life) in wistful, thoughtful landscapes of music that whet a listener's appetite for the rest of the story. ANNE MIDGETTE 7. DAUGHERTY: 'BELLS FOR STOKOWSKI'; OTHER COMPOSERS AND WORKS University of Texas Wind Ensemble, conducted by Jerry Junkin (Reference Recordings) The contemporary works, by Michael Daugherty and David Del Tredici ("In Wartime"), are intriguing, but the real gem is a gleefully anachronistic arrangement of Tylman Susato's collection "Danserye," from 1551. The performance exudes the freshness of youth and a sheer joy in music-making. A glorious noise. JAMES R. OESTREICH 8. LEON FLEISHER: 'TWO HANDS' Leon Fleisher, pianist (Vanguard Classics) After decades of grappling with a hand injury, the eminent pianist Leon Fleisher has made his first recording of two-hand piano works in some 40 years. The performances of works by Bach, Debussy, Scarlatti, Chopin and Schubert could not be more elegant, insightful and affecting. ANTHONY TOMMASINI 9. GORDON: 'LIGHT IS CALLING' Michael Gordon, keyboardist, with ensemble (Nonesuch) Michael Gordon's recent works have mostly been large, theatrical post-Minimalist essays, but he is also a master of the quirky, genre-crossing miniature. He offers eight of those here. Jazz, rock and more esoteric pop styles mingle with electronic sound and conventional strings in these entrancing, imaginative scores. ALLAN KOZINN 10. HANDEL: ARIAS Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Harry Bicket (Avie) In this age of hyperbole "great artist" is an overused term. But it's the only one possible for Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who sings with something that goes deeper than mere beauty to get to the pure essence of what music - all music - is about. ANNE MIDGETTE 11. IVES: SONGS, 'CONCORD' SONATA Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano; Pierre-Laurent Aimard, pianist (Warner Classics) Susan Graham homes in on the expressive core of these lovably quirky songs, swinging from tender and heartfelt to playfully puckish. Then, Pierre-Laurent Aimard applies his fabled new-music chops to the "Concord Sonata," making it sound like the thrillingly gnarled, restlessly visionary music it once was - and still is. JEREMY EICHLER 12. KLINE: 'ZIPPO SONGS: AIRS OF WAR AND LUNACY' Theo Bleckmann, vocalist; Phil Kline, guitarist; others (Cantaloupe) From the words American G.I.'s in Vietnam etched on their Zippo lighters, Phil Kline has fashioned brilliant American lieder for the 21st century. Tinged with elements of the psychedelic 60's, as in an elegiac fugue on a Doors song, they communicate with a direct vernacular eloquence. ANNE MIDGETTE 13. MACHAUT: MOTETS Hilliard Ensemble (ECM New Series) This 14th-century poet and composer wrote music whose spare and haunting beauty can at first seem disorienting to modern ears. These motets, in a sumptuous performance by the Hilliard Ensemble, make a wonderful introduction, with their undulating polyphony, shivery dissonances and supple vocal lines, each built around its own poetic text. JEREMY EICHLER 14. MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 3 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly (Decca) Riccardo Chailly's version of Mahler's Third is at once mystically expansive and luxuriously detailed. He expertly paces and parses the enormous finale, with an ear for the music's lumbering nobility, its trademark mixture of sadness and hope. The Concertgebouw plays with remarkable warmth and depth. JEREMY EICHLER 15. MESSIAEN: 'ÉCLAIRS SUR L'AU-DELÀ' Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Simon Rattle (EMI Classics) Clearly, Simon Rattle continues to energize the storied Berlin Philharmonic. This is a gripping account of Olivier Messaien's ecstatic and amazing final work for orchestra, completed in 1991. ANTHONY TOMMASINI 16. MONTEVERDI: 'L'ORFEO' Ian Bostridge, Patrizia Ciofi; European Voices; Concert d'Astrée, conducted by Emanuelle Haïm (Virgin Veritas) Ian Bostridge proves ideal for the role of Orfeo, as he has proved ideal for so many others. And Emmanuelle Haïm came to the fore this year as one of the freshest younger presences on the international music scene with this recording and the Purcell listed elsewhere. JAMES R. OESTREICH 17. MOZART: 'LE NOZZE DI FIGARO' Véronique Gens, Simon Keenlyside; Concerto Köln, conducted by René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi France) Take a well-known opera, add the conductor René Jacobs, and you get something so fresh and alive you feel you're hearing it for the first time. Following his outstanding "Così Fan Tutte" of 1999, this "Nozze" has the engrossing immediacy of a film and the musical quality of, well, its leads: Simon Keenlyside and the fabulous Concerto Köln. ANNE MIDGETTE 18. MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 9, 18 Leif Ove Andsnes, pianist; Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (EMI Classics) From his earlier recordings and concert appearances, one might peg Leif Ove Andsnes as a Romantic, but his stylish accounts of these concertos are among the most revelatory Mozart recordings of the year. Mr. Andsnes produces an appropriately crystalline piano sound, but his phrasing is assertive and energetic, qualities the superb ensemble mirrors. ALLAN KOZINN 19. PURCELL: 'DIDO AND AENEAS' Susan Graham, Ian Bostridge; European Voices; Concert d'Astrée, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm (Virgin Veritas) This spectacular recording has everything: the clarity and zestiness of period instruments, thoughtfully applied vocal ornamentation and a healthy measure of conductorial adventurousness, to say nothing of the superb cast. Susan Graham is a regal but passionate Dido, and Ian Bostridge is as dynamic an Aeneas as you'll find on disc. ALLAN KOZINN 20. ROUSE: 'DER GERETTETE ALBERICH,' 'RAPTURE,' VIOLIN CONCERTO Evelyn Glennie, percussionist; Cho-Liang Lin, violinist; Helsinki Philharmonic, conducted by Leif Segerstam (Ondine) The notion of writing a sequel to Wagner's "Götterdämmerung," and casting it as a percussion concerto, may seem odd, but it is vintage Christopher Rouse. In "Der Gerettete Alberich," a virtuosic percussion line portrays the title role, supported by a rich orchestral score that quotes "Ring" motifs and Led Zeppelin. ALLAN KOZINN 21. SCHUBERT: 'WINTERREISE' Ian Bostridge, tenor; Leif Ove Andsnes, pianist (EMI Classics) The meticulous and relentlessly shifting nuance of Ian Bostridge's reading of Schubert's culminating song cycle may not be to everyone's taste. But each sorry turn in the lovelorn wanderer's winter journey is clearly meant to be savored in all its agonizing detail, and Mr. Bostridge is a faithful and compelling guide, beautifully seconded by Leif Ove Andsnes. JAMES R. OESTREICH 22. THEODORAKIS: 'ZORBAS,' OTHER WORKS Ionna Forti, soprano; Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Charles Dutoit; others (Decca) Morbid curiosity made me listen to the "Zorba" ballet music; the music's raw excitement and unexpected charm made me listen again. And again. Higher minds and ears will fault the music, if not for its film and folk connections, then for its derivations from Orff and Verdi. Their loss. JAMES R. OESTREICH 23. WILMS: SYMPHONIES NOS. 6, 7 Concerto Köln, conducted by Werner Ehrhardt (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv) It stands to reason that there were good and worthy composers working in Beethoven's shadow, though we haven't heard much of their music. Now, courtesy of the adventurous Concerto Köln, meet Johann Wilhelm Wilms, a German who had a stellar career in Amsterdam, an ebullient and engaging musical personality. JAMES R. OESTREICH 24. ROLANDO VILLAZÓN: ITALIAN OPERA ARIAS Rolando Villazón, tenor; Munich Radio Orchestra, conducted by Marcello Viotti (Virgin Classics) Wow, a tenor with a beautiful voice who modifies his vocal style and color to suit the pieces he's singing, imbuing them with genuine feeling and artistry while delivering all the right vocal thrills. Mr. Villazón could be just the tenor we've all been waiting for. ANNE MIDGETTE 25. DEBORAH VOIGT: 'OBSESSIONS' Deborah Voigt, soprano; Bavarian Radio Symphony, conducted by Richard Armstrong (EMI Classics) One of the great dramatic sopranos of all time, in radiant voice, gives enthralling performances of extended scenes from Wagner and Strauss operas. ANTHONY TOMMASINI