Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54750 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1568 pages

Customer Reviews

6 STARS! A Bible for Classical Music
I have used all the verions of this reference bible, so to speak, for 20 years. My entire (well over 300) CD Library was based on this book. Yes, they favor British and European artists, but they work extensively with the BBC and its treasure trove of 'live' recordings over the last 60 years. The bonus is, they now include DVD reviews.

Penguin classics
Still a good guide to classic recordings and now includes DVDs, but many of the recordings cited are unobtainable. Reviews now seem to focus on musical integrity and make no mention of the sound quality of the CDs. Still, a lot better than just guessing!

Extremely disappointing
I agree with the negative reviews posted here. I have been buying this guide regularly for decades, and look forward to each new issue avidly, despite the ever-lengthening trail of nonsensical statements that have survived cut-and-paste editing as recordings are added or (especially) deleted from the list. I can kind of forgive this particular widespread mess, as the task of editing such a huge volume with less than an army of editorial staff is truly daunting. Despite the ever-worsening series of little faults, it has always been the Gold Standard for serious collectors of classical recordings. But the latest edition has finally toppled over into the mud. For the first time there are fewer entries rather than more compared to the last full edition, and the ax has been wielded completely to several composers. Adios, Alberto Gerhard! The Guide has always been good about covering new recordings very promptly, but this time there are many, many important new issues that have not been included. The bulk is just as great as before, but that is because the space is used up with larger typeface and the introduction of superfluous boxes around chosen recordings. The plethora of distinguishing marks given to different recordings is almost impossible to parse and borders on the comical. Three stars for a fully recommended recording, three stars with a key for "key recordings", now FOUR stars for fully fully fully fully recommended recordings, and four stars with a rosette for, well, gosh, if everything else is so fully extra-special wonderful, these must be guaranteed to change your life. The evaluation process has degenerated into a form of hype. Since almost all recordings that previously received a less-than-three-star rating have been dropped, this leaves this as pretty much a Guide to Recommended Recordings. You might think it is not much of a loss to drop listings of less-recommended recordings, but it was always possible to develop an understanding of the well-marked biases and limitations of the three editors by seeing which kinds of interpretations they tended to give lower ratings, and therefore to compensate for the basic dullness and correctness of their very British critical bias. This strategy is no longer available for readers.

So, after many, many years of excitedly snapping up each new edition, I will probably not be buying any more Penguin Guides to Classical Music. (The sad demise of one of the two editors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz probably puts an end to that wonderful publication as well.) I am seriously disappointed, and, considering the hundreds of hours I have spent with the various editions of this publication, I actually feel I have lost a small corner of my life that has given me a lot of pleasure.

It may be that the Guide is still useful to newer collectors, but it a sad comedown from its own established level.