Chicago Symphony heroes of the year: Georg Solti, driving his CSO juggernaut through the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10; Klaus Tennstedt, performing miracles of illumination in Mahler`s symphonies 1 and 4.
Best visiting orchestras: The Leningrad Philharmonic, offering definitive Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev under Mariss Jansons and Yuri Temirkanov; the Baltimore Symphony, which under David Zinman`s vitalizing direction has become one of America`s finest.
New-music adventures: Arvo Part`s mystical, neo-archaic ”Passio,” in its American professional premiere by the Hilliard Ensemble; Ned Rorem`s elegant, moving ”Goodbye, My Fancy” and ”The Auden Poems”; David Diamond`s taut, pungent Fifth Symphony.
Operatic discoveries: Peter Maxwell Davies` ”The Lighthouse,” by Chicago Opera Theater; Stravinsky`s ”The Rake`s Progress,” by The City Musick; Hugo Weisgall`s ”Six Characters in Search of an Author,” by the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.
Recitalists of the year: Soprano Arleen Auger, who gave Orchestra Hall and Ravinia superb programs of song; Mstislav Rostropovich, the cellist for all seasons.
Chamber music marathon of the year: The Takacs Quartet`s exhaustive, four-hour concert devoted to the six Bartok quartets. The Chamber Music Chicago event proved that, sometimes, more is more.
