Customer Reviews

The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2009

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As with all published reviews there are going to be those who agree with the reviews and those who don't. It's therefore hard to review the actual value of the ratings in these types of guides as it has more to do with personal preference than anything objectively measurable. All I will say is that Gramophone is generally intelligent and fair minded in its reviews.

However, the organization and ease of use can be objectively looked at, and the Gramophone Guide is the best classical music guide I've come across in this regard. It is divided by composer, type of work and then work. This makes it fairly easy to find what you want. The reviews are detailed and explain a little about the nature of the piece as well. There are also short introductions to the composers as well.

The beginning of the guide contains several useful lists for those wanting some more explicit guidance. There is a list of 100 Great Recordings which is a good base for a beginning collector or someone just wanting to start into Classical music. There is also a list of past recordings of the year and fairly extensive "basic library" suggestion.

One thing I really like about the guide is its neutral-positive nature. It doesn't waste a lot of time telling you certain recordings are not worth your time in the haughty manner that seems to consume some other guides. Gramophone just lists recordings the editors find interesting and worth considering.

The added value of a volume such as the Gramophone 2009 Classical Music guide is to help seasoned collectors round out their library. For the beginning or intermediate music enthusiast wanting to systematically broaden his/her horizon and tackle a particular composer or repertoire the book is hardly useful. I have a collection of a couple of thousands of CDs and I am grateful for any pointer to repertoire or recordings I might have overlooked. In that sense patient digging into the 3000 references in this Guide, not an unpleasant occupation, yields an occasional nugget. The book focuses on (must have) classic and recently issued recordings. Anything in between is only very spottily referenced. If you'd like to dig into Schnittke, for example, you will miss the Chandos symphonic cycle under Rozhdestvensky and Polyanski. There are just two Xenakis recordings listed and none of the (quite splendid) 4-disc complete orchestral recordings with Tamayo. Those seeking recommendations for Kevin Volans' spellbinding string quartets will search in vain. The spot between Vivaldi and Wagner is simply empty. And so on. There are many more examples, certainly not only in the more contemporary repertoire. I would rather vote for splitting the Guide into three volumes - pre-classical period, classical and romantic period, and contemporary music - and provide a much more exhaustive listing for each of those repertoires. That being said, the reviews are well written and informative. The short introductions to each composer listed are welcome too.

Truth be told there just are not that many good classical music guides to choose from. In terms of scope the Gramophone Guide is second to the Penguin. In my humble opinion, if you're serious about building or adding to an existing collection of classical CDs and DVDs you will own the Gramaphone as well as the Penguin Guide simply due to its more comprehensive scope as there are works (e.g., Beethoven's Overtures to name but one example) that are not covered in the "Good".

The Good Guide, like the Penguin, originates from the U.K. Some reviewers feel both these guides have a bias towards British artists. While to some extent this is true, it's not what other reviewers make it out to be and there are countless number of non-British recordings that are highly recommended in these pages. Besides, to my knowledge, one really doesn't have much choice because outside of the Penguin and the Good Guides a comprehensive guide for purchasing classical music is not available. There is the "Third Ear" but is does not come close to the high standard of these two publications. In fact, I have found the Third Ear to be far more biased AGAINST British recordings than these two guides are biased for them. If you're a complete beginner, the NPR Guide by Ted Libbey is an excellent place to start, although it is weak with resepct to opera, and it can't be accused of a British bias.

Gramophone Magazine is the only respectable periodical I've found that gives updated reviews and information about the latest in classical music recordings. The "Gramaphone" Guide is issued by the editors of Gramophone. While I prefer the Penguin I also purchase the Gramophone Guide. After being a subscriber to Gramophone Magazine for the past 5 or 6 years I've been so impressed with their recommendations that it is a logical purchase for me.

I've perused the pages of the Gramophone Guide and found a lot of agreement between it and the Penguin. Certain recordings are obvious recommendations and usually both these guides lead the buyer to owning certain "masterpiece" recordings. Both guides provide professional reviews of many of the avialble purchases for a given piece. Both provide great descriptions of many of the subtleties of given recordings and how the performers interpret the music. These descriptions make it easy to compare and contrast recordings and will help one become a more discerning listener.

If you love opera, you're in for a real treat. In addition to being season ticket holders to the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet, we also have season seats to the Seattle Opera. I use these guides to make sure I own the music for whatever it is we will be hearing and "seeing" in our upcoming seasons. For Opera Lovers, the DVD recommendations are great to have. Now, in addition to having the best CDs of a given opera, I am now able to confidently purchase outstanding DVDs of the operas we'll be attending. If you go to live classical music performances of any kind, being able to familiarize yourself with what you'll be hearing before you attend the performance only leads to enhancing the performance.

As you can tell, I am very pleased with both the Penguin and Gramaphon Guides. Once you're really serious about compiling a CD/DVD collection, I'm confident you'll feel the same. These books will become your trusted advisors and you'll look forward to replacing them as they're updated.

Again, if you're really just starting out, you're fine with the NPR Guide (350 Essential Works) to begin with. It is refreshingly brief in scope and will get you the base you need for your collection and you'll be pleased with your recommendations. A great example is Libbey's recommendation of the Leon Fleisher/George Szell recordings of the Beethoven Piano Concertos. These recordings are phenomonal treasures at bargain prices!

Once you really get into classical music listening as a part of your life, and your "being" so to speak, it won't be long before you'll realize you'll want more. Owning these two guides will make you smarter about the music you're listening to and you'll be proud of your collection of excellent recordings.

In closing I want to express my belief in my credentials to make a recommendation to prospective buyers of these Guides. I am 55 years old. At age 5 I began piano study with Edith Knox in Los Angeles. Ms. Knox, a Juliard graduate, studied piano with Alexander Ziloti. Ziloti was a pupil of Franz Liszt. Ms. Knox premiered the Ravel Piano Concerto in G at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra in, I think, 1936. I continued to study with Ms. Knox into my early twenties afterward, I studied with Reginald Stewart at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. In college I majored in composition and piano and for four years was the student representative for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. For the past 30 years I've continued listening to classical music for countless hours each and every week of my life. I now continue to study piano with Celia Chandler in Mt. Vernon, WA. Mrs. Chandler is a protege of the great Maestro Leon Fleischer. She studied under scholarship with him at the Peabody School of music and at age 14 performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.


I only provide this bit of autobiographical information so you know that I've got a solid foundation in, and more importantly love, of classical music and consider myself a lifelong student of the genre. Even though I'm an avid reader, I don't feel as though I'm qualified to be a literary critic to the same extent that I have developed a discerning ear with regard to classical music listening. Accordingly, based upon my personal life experiences in classical music I think I am qualified to write a review about classical music guides. Buy these with guides with confidence. There is no perfect book for building a classical music collection but these two are the best available.

Happy listening!