Customer Reviews

The Record Shelf Guide to Classical CDs and Audiocassettes: Fifth Revised and Expanded Edition (Insider's Guide to Classical Recordings)

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How many classical music afficionados do you know with a sense of humor, and a willingness to use it even in regard to the music they love? In all of my years of studying music I have come across only one (and he's not an academic) : Jim Svejda, one of the funniest men to ever write about music. For his incredible humor alone this book is easily recommendable enough. Where the problem starts for me is in Svekda's personal tastes -- they are quite conservative. How ironic that such an iconoclastic and irreverent guy can be so orthodox in his tastes in music, but then again that is part of the charm I guess that makes him so inimitable; you never can predict him, and if you try you are inevitably wrong! That is how I found the experience anyway due to the paradox that Svejda represents. Case in point: despite loathing just about every bit of modern music he comes across, he praises almost everything Schoenberg ever did. If there is one point of contention I would have with The Record Shelf it would be this phobia of modern music. Missing from the book are names like Cowell, Crumb, Riley, Partch, Reich, and scads of others who I had hoped would receive at least a passing remark given the book's 800-page length. It wasn't that he was required to like it - a guy as outspoken as this could easily tell us why these composers don't deserve recognition. Even Ligeti is left out, at the expense of scores of people of whom I have never heard. But Svejda's objective here, was to present music that one is likely to HEAR; not necessarily names that one is likely to know. So you can expect to find out about some composers you don't know, but ought to try. In addition, he does not take the stance so common in academic circles, whereby innovation is the only prerequisite for quality. So for example, composers such as Roy Harris, or John Field -- who get little more than an obstinate grunt of arrogant and self-satisfied disapproval from all the professors I have ever met -- get good remarks for the engaging elements of their music overlooked by scholars. I marvel at the man's super-human ability to actually remember so much data about so many recordings, performers, composers; anecdotes about performances, conductors, and yet still have enough brain matter leftover to make references to literature and more. He must have a photographic memory. I have almost nothing in common with Svejda on a musical level, and yet still every page is a revelation of some sort or another. Absolutely recommended to anyone except those afraid to enjoy themselves.

While what music-critic Jim Svejda writes is informative, funny and interesting, the survery of available recordings in this 1996 is limited and misses the last decade of newer recordings, reissues and compilations. But it will cost you a bundle more to have the latest edition. However, this is the type of guide that "distills" the more legendary recordings from the pack - at least in terms of Svejda's viewpoint - so is loaded with tons of experience. Generally, such a guide is not recommended as one's primary source of review/opinion but more as a second or third source. For this it is helpful and certainly entertaining given his often irreverant tone (unlike Penguin Guide's overly-prim-and-proper tone). His descriptions of the major works are interesting too. While the most comprehensive guide is Penguin and my favorite other source is "The Third Ear Essential Listening Companion for Classical Music, " Jim Svejda offers a fresh, highly opinionated perspective that often gives new insights the other guides did not.

Of all reviews of classical music, I trust only the American Record Guide (a periodical) and this book. The author has a wry wit and a wonderful feel for what is and isn't good. Face it; there are many pieces of classical music (particularly 20th century) that just sound bad. Svejda essentially says "don't let anyone tell you that this sounds good...it doesn't", and he's right. Perhaps his tastes are mine are alike. It's uncanny just how much they are alike, so I attribute it to telling it like it is.

Jim Svejda's knowledge of recorded classical music is probably unsurpassed, and his views on composers and their works are as entertaining as they are enlightening. This book is your best guide to the current recorded repertoire. Buy it before you buy another classical CD or tape.

I have had the pleasure of listening to Jim Svejda almost every day when I lived in Southern California. Wheather you agree or disagree with his unique point of view toward performing arts, this book will keep any classical music lover entertained.

If you know and listen to Jim Svejda (personality on a public, classical radio station), you probably don't need my review to buy this book. If you have no idea who he is, then this MAY help you. Also know that I am a long time casual musician, and casual classical music fan. I am not familiar with a wide number of recordings of more than a handful of works, and have played even fewer in ensembles.

This book is more than just a catalog of "essential" recordings. It is easily as much a collection of Jim's wry wit, and eclectic tastes. As a man who once said (best I can remember) ". . this is a vintage recording, that is to say, monaural and scratchy," he still includes many vintage recordings among his recommendations.

This is a collection of recordings Jim loves, recordings Jim thinks are essential, as well as recordings he may not really search out to find, but feels compelled to comment on because so many people will search them out. In most cases, he gives enough information for you to decide if you and he are likely to think alike regarding a given composer and work, and thereby use or ignore his pick. In many cases, he also lists multiple picks for a given work. He often lists a pick if you want a cycle of a particular composer (all 9 Beethoven symphonies), but lists different recordings if you only want selected works from the cycle (only the 7th). He also makes recommendations from time to time listing both a "vintage recording" and a more current recording, knowing some people just can't get past the hiss and pops to hear the music underneath. The book is organized alphabetically by composer, and is 608 pages of reviews, plus an index.

I have not read this cover to cover yet, and I may never do so, for it is a reference book first and foremost, but I can say, it has been a great read in the sections I have read, even though I certainly don't completely share Jim's taste in music. If you love classical music, this is a wonderful, witty, occasionally quirky reference that I strongly recommend.