Compact Discs, The Penguin Guide to: Completely Revised and Updated (Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, 1999) [Paperback]

Ivan March (Author), Edward Greenfield (Author), Robert Layton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, 1999 | Publication Date: November 1, 1999

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 the last three years while also including all the highlights from the back catalog. Arranged by composer, the guide lists the major recordings of each work -- from remastered vintage recordings to the latest releases, from the highest-quality offerings to budget releases -- with evaluations of interpretation and performance by the authors, as well as assessments of recording accuracy and advice on the best buys for cost and quality. This edition includes coverage of new recording enterprises, such as Philip's "100 Great Pianists" series, CDs issued to tie in with particular musical anniversaries, entries for several significant but previously little-known composers, and detailed coverage of period-instrument performances. With the best of the previous guide now reevaluated in the light of newer releases, this essential reference work is designed to help you select the very best of recorded classical music available today.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ivan March, Edward Greenfield, and Robert Layton are the authors of The Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Disc and The Penguin Guide to Bargain Compact Discs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1600 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev&Updtd edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140513795
• ISBN-13: 978-0140513790
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,324,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reliable, Informative - Indispensible., December 17, 1999

By 

J. Hardy (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Compact Discs, The Penguin Guide to: Completely Revised and Updated (Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, 1999) (Paperback)

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.

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable guide for classical music collectors., December 18, 1999

By 

Mike Powers "mkp51" (Woolwich, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compact Discs, The Penguin Guide to: Completely Revised and Updated (Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, 1999) (Paperback)

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.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for the serious collector, February 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Compact Discs, The Penguin Guide to: Completely Revised and Updated (Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, 1999) (Paperback)

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.