Compact Discs, the Penguin Guide to: Completely Revised and Updated

by Robert Layton, Ivan March, Edward Greenfield

Book Overview

Widely regarded as the standard guide to classical music on CD, The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs has been updated to take into account the many hundreds of new and reissued CDs that have appeared in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140513795
• ISBN13: 9780140513790
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 1639 Pages
• Weight: 3.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.5" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The Rolls Royce of Classical CD Guides

When it comes to choosing a classical CD you will be hard pressed to find a guide that is more comprehensive, complete or convincing. The ambition of the editors is listen to almost everything in the catalogue and with each new edition of this book they seem to do just that. Their judgements are so sound that the odd disagreement one has here or there proves merely to be the exception to the rule. I have been using the Penguin Guide for nearly a decade, and in my opinion, if you can buy only one guide then this is the one to get. Of course, if your budget can stand it then the Gramophone Good CD Guide is a worthy second. But be careful: I have spent far too many hours comparing their rival impressions of various recordings - it's an addictive pastime!

A must for the serious collector

Clearly the best reference guide. Its main competition the Gramophone Yearbook includes too few reviews of major works. It makes it very difficult to use as a shopping guide, since most masterpieces have at least four or five equally good recordings, and many stores don't always have the exact recomendation in the book. The NPR guide is too idiosyncratic and somewhat unreliable, as well as too biased towards american composers and recordings. The Rough Guide is very good but far too devoted to modern music to be completely useful. It also has a few idiosyncratic choices and it is in need of an update. The Penguim guide and its companions (Bargain Guide and Yearbook) include detailed reviews of almost any (good) available record. You may not always agree with them (and I certainly don't) but it is always useful information. It is certaily too heavy in the british repertoire, but since it is originated in the UK that is expected. It also gives too much deference to british artists. Nevertheless once one is aware of that it is rather easy to discount all those factors and still obtain an enormpous wealth of information unavailable anywhere else we can just ignore some of those pages.

it's hard to shop for classical CDs without it

I have been an avid collector of these books since starting a classical music library over 20 years ago. The most recent edition maintains the high standard as prior issues. For the record, the "N" is used to designate a new release/recording that has not been reviewed in a prior edition. While the editors' opinions are as a rule highly reliable, they do not guarantee that what they consider to be an outstanding recording will automatically become a favourite for the potential buyer. So this book is truly a guide and no more than that. Oddly enough there are more proofreading errors in this issue than prior editions - particularly with cross-referencing - but that should not deter anybody. Considering the vast amount of material it covers, it remains very competitively priced. The use of two columns per page - which one hardly ever sees outside of the Bible (!) - adds to the depth and concentration of the book. The editors have gone to the trouble of adding expository material when evaluating recordings of obscure works, which gives the reader added motivation to try them out. The book is very strong in the area of Scandinavian music, mainstream and otherwise. These books are also quite sturdy and can take some abuse without literally coming apart. All foreign accents are used where required. Still a very fine reference. Highly recommended.

Indispensable guide for classical music collectors.

The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs has been hailed as "...a CD collectors Bible," and is the easiest and most comprehensive one-volume survey of classical music available today. Authors Ivan March, Edward Greenfield and Robert Layton provide short but authoritative reviews of what they consider the most outstanding, the average, and worst in recorded classical music, from the standpoint of performance, CD sound quality, and value for money to the consumer. The 1999 version of the Penguin Guide is a thorough update to the 1996 main edition and 1997 yearbook, adding many new works while retaining its manageable size.I've used the Penguin Guide since 1994, and I have found their evaluations to be fair, objective (with an admitted slight bias in favor of European composers and performers), and accurate, but also entertaining and very easy to read and understand. I rely extensively on Penguin Guide recommendations to build my classical music library, and have never been disappointed in the quality or value of those recommended CDs which I've purchased. I highly recommend The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs for all classical music collectors.

Reliable, Informative - Indispensible.

Absolutely the best, most helpful guide to recorded classical music there is. Indispensible when trying to buy unfamiliar music. I've used prior editions of this guide over and over to choose cd's of music I don't know well. Every time the guide has given a cd 3 stars, it has been terrific. One caveat: the reviewers do like performances on period-instruments, and they like old (sometimes mono!) recordings, and they like complete operas. So they will often give a cd a very high rating when the average listener would not necessarily enjoy it that much. But they always provide that information in the text, so you can watch out for it. I find these reviews consistently more reliable than reviews in other guides, eg Gramophone, etc. Also a pleasant book to just read.