Gramophone Classical Good CD & DVD Guide

I recently decided to buy new editions of my increasingly bent and battered and out of date Gramophone and Penguin guides to classical CDs. With a limited budget for classical recordings, I find it essential to have a few guides around to guide me in my buying. And it truly is essential to have more than one. Anyone relying solely on the Penguin or Gramophone or any other classical guide is apt to be buying unknowingly into a particular set of biases. The Gramophone guide, like the publication upon which it is based, is irritatingly biased against American orchestras, for instance, a serious flaw for someone living in the U.S. as I do. If one spends time with a guide, one gets to know its biases and slants and shortcomings and strengths. Both the strengths and many of the weaknesses of this guide are easy to discern. One thing to note of the Gramophone guide is that far more than the Penguin guide it doubles as a guide not merely to recordings, but to music. Each composer is introduced with a brief biography. These are quite informative and reach the same kind of length one sees in one-volume encyclopedias such as THE COLUMBIA ENCYCLOPEDIA. There is also a great deal of helpful prefatory matter, including a series of brief introductions to the history of music featuring a highlighting of some of the key recordings of pieces from each period. There is also a list of what they regard as among the greatest recordings ever committed to CD as well as a list of the basic works for a library of classical music. The latter does not recommend specific recordings, but compositions by specific composers. The two lists are both overlap and are exclusive of one another. Karajan's famous recording of Wagner's PARWIFAL, for instance, makes the former list but not the latter. Some people don't like guide to make stands. I do. I want them to be bold and say precisely what they recommend that I buy. I can learn when to trust and when to question their judgment. Compared to the Penguin guide, the Gramophone lists vastly fewer CDs. That may seem odd given the thickness of the book, but it is true. Penguin tends to rate a vast number of discs but says a lot less about each one. Penguin also strives to review discs on all imaginable works by virtually every composer, while Gramophone skips many of the minor composers and typically reviews only two to four recordings of even major works. The one exception to the latter are the very helpful sidebars that compare seven or eight recordings of some of the most crucial pieces of classical music, such as the best recordings of Beethoven's late quartets or the finest recordings of Bruckner's 8th Symphony. Gramophone therefore is a much more in depth guide, but it lacks the Penguin guide's breadth. One serious shortcoming of Gramophone's less-is-more approach is that it gives little guidance on the bulk of the recordings one is likely to encounter. For instance, if you hit used CD stores or otherw

If you already have previous volumes of The Gramophone Guide and are wondering if there is anything new, the answer is YES. Most notable are the fresh-looking "quick reference" boxes that summarize the major, top recording choices in a verticle column for many major repertoire categories (like Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, Mozart's Piano Concertos, Chopin's Nocturnes, etc). This allows a quick, at-a-glance overview of the top choices without reading through each separate review. Also to note is the change from "Gramophone Award" to their new "Gold Star" Award - perhaps alligning closer to Penguin Guide's "Rosette" award citing and icon. I wouldn't doubt a new line of CD's featuring this bright cellestial logo gracing the cover. Other new things include hundreds of new CD recommendations, an expanded DVD section, a nifty guide to Mozart's 250th anniversary and a primer to downloading classical music (yes, it will finally happen). For those new to the many classical music guides, perhaps I can offer some insights into finding the one best suited to your interests based on several years of using all of them. The first step is to determine if you want a "buying guide" that reviews, critiques and compares in detail the many CD/DVD choices - or more a guide to explore the major composers and their most notable works with just a couple recording recommendations. For buying guides, there are three main ones, each offering something unique and valuable: THE GRAMOPHONE, THE PENGUIN GUIDE and THE THIRD EAR GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC. By contrast, the many other guides referenced later are more guides to the history of classical music (major composers, works, eras) and give only 1-3 recording recommendations without much comment, critique or comparison. The most comprehensive of the buying guides is THE PENGUIN GUIDE which lists by far the most recordings available and gives quality, in-depth reviews. To many collectors, it is the indisputable first choice reference, mainly for its sheer number of listings and completeness of repertoire. Additionally, their "Key Recordings" and "Rosette Award" citings are also helpful to note the truly exceptional and legendary recordings. Their ratings are on a three-star system. However, most recordings below two stars do not make the cut - as it is impracticle to list all recordings ever produced or in the catalog. Next, THE GRAMOPHONE also only lists the "creme" with recommendations that are even more "distilled" than Penguin Guide's listings. For example, where Penguin lists some 10 recordings for a given work, Gramophone will often only list their top 1-3 choices. Many of these will be historic recordings (Schnabel, Casels ...), which unfortunately leaves less room for some of the newer talents and budget releases which often are excellent. Some will value this narrowing of choices, others will feel cheated of options. Personally, I've acquired many superb recordings not mentioned at all in Gramophone th