Customer Reviews

Gramophone Classical Good CD Guide 2002 (Gramophone Classical Music Guide)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For me Gramophone Good CD Guide and Penquin Guide have always been the essentials for collecting classical CD's. In the past the Gramophone guide has been a little harder to use. They have advertised easier to use and for once that claim proves out. One does have to understand the obvious slant toward the Brit's own bands and composers. But one thing I have learned in my collection of over 2500 classical CD's, we tend to put up with a poorer performance here in the States than they do accross the pond. Therefore I don't see that bias as bad. The best thing about this guide is no matter if you are a novice or a season collector, this guide will help you get the best available added to your collection.

I've avoided buying the Good CD Guide in the past because I found it too cumbersome to use. The 2002 format is much better and I find that I rely on it much more than I expected. It has a list of 100 "Great" recordings (although there are really only 99 as "Falstaff" is listed twice) and a small "Basic Library" to begin your collection. It's a great tool if you're building a collection or just trying to find a better recording of an old favorite. It's also a nice adjunct to Gramophone magazine.

The Gramaphone Guide is finding its way back after stumbling mightily in 2000. Its revised basic library and inclusion of "other selections" is especially welcome, as is the comprehensive index, which is lacking in its chief competitor, the Penguin Guide.

Still, the Gramaphone Guide could be improved, chiefly by switching from the current system of reprinting entire reviews in favor of one or two paragraph summaries and including more recordings.

Like many, I have gone through various guides -- Penguin Guide, Rough Guide, Classic FM Guide, etc. -- and ended up buying this guide. It is not as comprehensive as Penguin Guide and perhaps not as easily laid out as Classic FM or Rough Guide. In my opinion, it is more detailed in terms of the selection the authors have picked in their guide, although it is more partial to European and especially British production. My lessons learned trying to build a classical CD collection using these guides is to buy a few of the recommendations from each book (or you may already have them in your collection) and buy the book that comes up with the choices of your liking. You will find that many of the recommendations by the guides are in agreement as well as many that aren't.

I like using using these books for reference( I have several years editions of this), however, it's quite obvious to me that there really isn't all that much change in the reviews, from year to year. I have the 1997,98,99,00,01, and 02 editions, and the lack of change from year to year is striking. What a rip! In my humble opinion, the Penguin Guides are so much better (although they also repeat much info, there are so many more recordings reviewed). One may also want to check out the Third Ear book on Classical Music recordings.

In my humble opinion, there are many very good recordings being left out in this guide. Not many historical sets referenced. The most part of the guide considers new recordings (eg. since 1998 ) and there isn't enough info on past recordings.

Whether you are a beginner exploring classical music for the first time or a purist looking for THE best version of a specific piece, the Gramophone Good CD Guide is an indispensible tool. This book, from the editor's of Gramophone Magazine feature reviews from some of the most distinguished writers on classical music. Their comments are always insightful and illuminating whilst provide useful information about the artists/ conductors on the recordings.

The format is simple enough. The book is organized alphebetically by composer with the different types of works listed in sub-sections under each composer. The ratings were also very clear with CDs given ratings up to 3 Stars (represented as little round CD symbols). I found the book well-organized and the book quite user-friendly. I have also found a distinct improvement in the layout of this edition over my old 1999 Edition.

More importantly, there are many useful tools for the beginner. There is a list of works for anyone looking to form a "Basic Library" of classical music as well as a list of 100 Classic CDs. All of these are very useful for the uninitiated. For the more advanced, there is a useful index listing all the major artist, useful for finding a CD from a certain artist that you might not have. It is also quite easy to compare different recordings and the comments are always helpful in stimulating debate.

Overall, this is the best guide on classical music available on the market today. It is thoroughly comprehensive and quite formidible. The Only drawback is its price which is almost as hefty as its size but it is a small issue considering that a flip through its pages would undoubtedly save you a few rash purchases and poor recordings. That alone would be worth its price tag.

Looking for something more than NPR's guide, this is truly that. I enjoy the background on each piece and the Introductory Section with its brief "era" expositions and Recording of the Year and Collection Listings.

The ratings seem consistent as so many human ears can be, thus giving the classical listener the opportunity to concur or otherwise. My checking with the taste herein is tracking thus far.

I find this along with other sources such as Penguin and NPR and symphony liner notes with recommended recordings along with Amazon.com ratings truly gives us a wide range of reactions to advise our purchase decisions.

This is almost as bad as they come. Ever hear of the composer Grofe (Grand Canyon Suite, Mississippi Suite, etc.)? Well, you won't find him reviewed here. How about Gloria Coates? Surely they must cover Peter Maxwell Davies (the renown English composer)? Nope! William Bolcom, Kamra Ince, Henri Lazarof, Bo Linde, George McKay, Mieczyslaw Vainberg? None of these either. And the section on Charles Ives, Ernest Bloch and many others is pathetically small. The Rimsky-Korsakov orchestral masterpiece, Scheherazade gets several less-than-optimal recommendations (compared with over 40 in the Third Ear). The examples of this books failings go on and on.

I could go on but I'm getting tired of typing and I've embarrassed them enough so I'll stop. In summary, this book addresses the ho-hum standard stuff that most everyone knows already. Check Schnabel out for good mono recordings of the Beethoven sonatas, Gieseking did a great job on Debussy works in the 50's but the sound is not good by today's standards, etc, etc..

Not a good shopping guide--way too many gaps and you'll miss the good stuff if you use it. Worse, it's misleading. Oh, and did I mention the chubby, hard-to-use design of the book itself? The book won't stay open and it looks fat but really is skinny on recommendations and educational value.

The annual Gramophone Guide has been on my shelves for many years. Its main rival is the Penguin guide and I find them complimentary and it would require a book of quite unwieldy size to do the job in one volume. The Gramophone guide takes the text of the original reviews in the Gramophone magazine as its main source, and would remain the same for a particular disc if that disc is included year on year. Where there are multiple recordings of a work, the text is condensed and becomes more 'on the one hand, but on the other' in character.

Compared with the Penguin guide, far fewer discs and composers are included but it covers far more than the core repertoire. This is compensated by reviews which are far more detailed than the Penguin guide, which tend to be too short. In addition, there are mini-biographies of all the composers and there are essays at the beginning on the music of various periods, including modern music.

Another advantage is the one-volume format, so CD collections are included every year. You have to buy a year book to get reviews of collections in the Penguin guide (plus updates on new releases generally).

To keep abreast of classical CDs, you really need both and a subscription to a monthly record review magazine as well.