Awful disappointment
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I agree completely with reviewer "JSH". I too have been buying this guide regularly for decades, and look forward to each new issue avidly, despite the ever-lengthening trail of nonsensical statements that have survived cut-and-paste editing as recordings are added or (especially) deleted from the list. I can kind of forgive this particular widespread mess, as the business of editing such a huge volume with less than an army of editorial staff is a truly daunting task. But the latest issue fails on every count. For the first time there are fewer entries rather than more since the last full edition, and the ax has been wielded completely to several composers. Adios, Alberto Gerhard! The Guide has always been good about covering new recordings very promptly, but this time there are many, many important new issues that have not been included. The bulk is just as great as before, but that is because the space is used up with larger typeface and the introduction of superfluous boxes around chosen recordings. Indeed the plethora of distinguishing marks given to different recordings is almost impossible to parse and borders on the comical. Three stars for a fully recommended recording, three stars with a key for "key recordings", now FOUR stars for fully fully fully fully recommended recordings, and four stars with a rosette for, well, gosh, if everything else is so fully extra-special wonderful, these must be guaranteed to change your life. The evaluation process has degenerated into a form of hype. Since almost all recordings that previously received a less-than-three-star rating have been dropped, this leaves this as pretty much a Guide to Recommended Recordings. You might think it is not much of a loss to drop listings of less-recommended recordings, but it was always possible to account for the well-marked biases and limitations of the three editors by seeing which kinds of interpretations they tended to give lower ratings, and therefore to compensate for the basic dullness and correctness of their very British critical bias. This strategy is no longer available for readers.
So, after many, many years of buying this Guide with great excitement, I will probably not be buying the Penguin Guides to Classical Music any more. (The sad demise of one of the two editors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz probably puts an end to that wonderful publication as well.)
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Surprising errors and omissions
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I agree with other reviewers that this is a book well worth having but, even in my limited experience, there are some surprising errors and omissions. For example, I have the Naxos disc of Brahms String Quartets by the Ludwig Quartet. Unusually for this label, the sound quality is truly awful, but the Penguin Guide describes the recording as having "good presence and is well balanced". An extraordinary conclusion! Secondly the Guide completely ignores the superb 2005 Capriccio compilation of Haydn's keyboard sonatas on original instruments by Christine Schornsheim; perhaps the best CD set I have ever purchased!
Neverless, the book is useful and good value for money.
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Maybe imperfect but still an essential and valuable guide
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I was surprised to see how critical other reviewers had been. I've been buying these Penguin Guides for many many years and despite some failings in this newest edition I still think it's an invaluable book and a very reliable overall guide to classical recordings.
True, there are some editing mistakes, but it's a huge book and I for one am willing to forgive a few foibles, given the volume's wide scope.
I'm not sure whether expanding the "star" ratings to 4 stars actually adds to the value of the ratings. Personally I've never had a problem with the ***/**/* system, especially as "half-way" ratings can be achieved by bracketing a star. The use of the Rosettes to single out recordings that really stand out or offer unique performances has always been very useful, and remains so. Inevitably, the ratings are subjective, but the pedigree of the 3 original reviewers is unparalleled in this field.
The inclusion of music DVDs in the guides in recent years has been a distinct plus, in my view. I've used the guide to start a fairly small collection of DVDs and have been delighted with the results - even played through a modest DVD player and a standard stereo TV. Events like the annual New Year's Concert in Vienna are ideal DVD candidates as you capture more of the atmosphere of the occasion than on CD. The documentaries on Sviatoslav Richter and Hildegard of Bingen are worth every penny too.
Are there "important" omissions? Yes, inevitably there are some, but we must concentrate on the wood rather than a few individual trees. Taken overall, this remains an excellent guide to relative value across a staggering range of mainly classical recordings. I for one wouldn't be without it!
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Good, but has many faults
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I agree with all the earlier reviewers. This book is valuable and on the whole fairly reliable, but badly skewed. Its preference for many of Karajan's dreadful recordings is one of its worst faults. It has been updated piecemeal again and again to the point where it is often badly out of date and needs a thorough rewrite, preferably by some new fresh-eared authors who are more up to date with the many superb modern recordings available. Despite my complaints, if you're new to classical music and this book is your only guide, you won't make many mistakes, especially if you filter out Karajan's recordings from the recommendations.
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Ideal for newcomers like me
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If classical music seems like a closed door to you, but you long to be let in, then this is the book you need. Quite simply, it tells you what recordings to buy, listed by composer and then genre. Like me, you might have randomly bought recordings and found them to be lacking, both musically and acoustically. If you buy the recordings recommended in this book then you will find at least some quality that marks them out above others, even if you might not necessarily agree with the tastes of the book authors.
I particularly liked how low-priced recordings are clearly marked. After all, not all of us can splash out 20 or 40 pounds on a whim, particularly when our tastes are still developing.
It's surprising how many old recordings the book recommends, but I guess some performers simply can't be bettered (and, after all, we've had digital recording technology since the 80s). Personally I'm not overly fussy about acoustic quality although I'm not sure how I'd cope with some of the mono recordings taken from 78rpm discs, which the book sometimes recommends!
One irritation is the lack of an index. It would be useful to have the page listed for a specific piece, rather than have to search through the entire entry for the composer, trying to guess what particular genre the piece falls under (difficult for beginners).
Old-hand classical music lovers might be sniffy about a book like this, but they probably don't need it. This is a book for the rest of us.
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