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The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs 2003/4: The Guide to Excellence in Recorded Classical Music
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs is the largest and most comprehensive survey of classical music on digital audio and video discs ever published. It covers thousands of recordings, offering candid evaluation of their relative artistic and technical merits, highlighting notable performances, and pinpointing the best buys. This guide takes into account the many hundreds of new and reissued CDs and DVDs that have appeared in recent years while also including all the major recordings of each work-from remastered vintage recordings to the latest releases. This essential reference work is designed to help select the very best video and music discs available today.
1616 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2003
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November 13, 2020
The advantage to technological advantages is the convenience they offer: ease-of-use, portability, and data access. The drawback to this “convenience” is the way it distances one from the information being sought. Sure, lots of information is available- but in the case of some subjects, there’s a price to be paid. In the case of music education, it may be better to slow down and find another source that lends itself to the patience and thought that must be employed to learn about the subject.
Take classical music. People who are trying to learn about it can go to an online source and listen to excerpts or whole pieces to find out if they want to hear more of Bartok or Beethoven, or move on to Delius, Debussy or Strauss. They can find any number of sites that offer introductions to classical music for any era. The learning curve is steep, but it is also broad and filled with signs and steps and rest areas, which are always helpful on long trips.
But what if your smartphone's battery is dead? Or you’re out of range of a signal? Or you want to look through something with a surface area larger than a protein bar? Or you’re tiring of looking at the world through the built-in myopia your device offers?
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs is the answer. The 2003/4 edition may be over a decade old, but the likelihood of your needing something newer is negligible. While new versions of classical pieces are coming out all the time, most of the best performances for any composer’s work probably occurred 30-40 years ago. So, Penguin is the place to go.
I found a used copy at a bookstore for $8.00, which I considered a steal, given that the thing is 1,524 pages (not counting the 42-page appendix of 1,370 “Key Recordings”). Of course, at 7” by 9”, and 2.5” thick, it weighs in at approximately eight pounds. But no matter; in this case, quantity equates with quality.
In the mid-point of the 20th century, a book like this would have been confined to LP recordings- and possibly reel-to-reel product. But by the 80’s, cassettes were everywhere, and by the 90s it was all about CDs, with DVDs soon to follow. And though there was a time when audiophiles pointed to some performances only being available on LPs, everything of note has since been transferred to digital. In essence, newbies to the classical music world are not missing out by perusing a guide such as this Penguin edition.
Arranged in alphabetical order, by composer, the only information provided after the artist’s name is their birth and death dates. So, for biographical details, one will have to go elsewhere. But who gives a fig about these people’s lives? Not that they’re not important, but we’re after the music, not the creator.
The works are divided into sections: orchestral, chamber, solo, vocal, choral, opera, and collections of a vocal or miscellaneous nature. Album titles are alphabetical within each group, along with the record company that released it (as well as catalogue number), the conductor, the orchestra that performed it, and any featured artists involved.
For any work, such as the popular light-classic mainstay, Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” there are many recordings reviewed. To make sense out of them, from a quality standpoint, every listed recording is rated from *** (Outstanding) to * (Fair), based on a number of factors. If a key symbol is also included, that indicates a recording that is at the top of its class. As for the ratings, they’re based on sound quality (for example, how well the company involved pulled off the transfer from older sources), performances, or historic interest.
But here’s where things get interesting. While a reviewer should remain objective, these critics don’t hide their enthusiasm for specific pieces, nor their lack of enthusiasm for a conductor or performers who don’t do justice to the work they’re performing. That being said, the reader will learn that though Bach or Stravinsky had designated tempos (speeds) at which they wished a work to be played, some conductors are able to bring out the beauty or excitement of a concerto by slowing down or speeding it up; another conductor will make some parts louder or softer, with stunning results. Then again, some groups just aren’t up to the task, due to inexperience or poor recording practices; and though they may be included in the Guide, they’re rated accordingly with one asterisk- or two, if they’re at least trying to make things work.
Another interesting thing about the listings is the way some companies group the works. Sometimes there’ll be a concept album, where a collection of “spooky” compositions, like “Danse Macabre” are offered. Maybe the company puts together a group of marches, or romantic music. In the case of some lesser-known or less-prolific composers, such as Sally Beamish, there are only two albums reviewed, whereas there are twenty-one pages devoted to Prokofiev, seventy for the Bach Family.
In the end, choice of sources from which to learn about classical music are legion and based on personal taste, but for someone seeking a reference guide to the music itself, the Penguin Guide is hard to beat.
Take classical music. People who are trying to learn about it can go to an online source and listen to excerpts or whole pieces to find out if they want to hear more of Bartok or Beethoven, or move on to Delius, Debussy or Strauss. They can find any number of sites that offer introductions to classical music for any era. The learning curve is steep, but it is also broad and filled with signs and steps and rest areas, which are always helpful on long trips.
But what if your smartphone's battery is dead? Or you’re out of range of a signal? Or you want to look through something with a surface area larger than a protein bar? Or you’re tiring of looking at the world through the built-in myopia your device offers?
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs is the answer. The 2003/4 edition may be over a decade old, but the likelihood of your needing something newer is negligible. While new versions of classical pieces are coming out all the time, most of the best performances for any composer’s work probably occurred 30-40 years ago. So, Penguin is the place to go.
I found a used copy at a bookstore for $8.00, which I considered a steal, given that the thing is 1,524 pages (not counting the 42-page appendix of 1,370 “Key Recordings”). Of course, at 7” by 9”, and 2.5” thick, it weighs in at approximately eight pounds. But no matter; in this case, quantity equates with quality.
In the mid-point of the 20th century, a book like this would have been confined to LP recordings- and possibly reel-to-reel product. But by the 80’s, cassettes were everywhere, and by the 90s it was all about CDs, with DVDs soon to follow. And though there was a time when audiophiles pointed to some performances only being available on LPs, everything of note has since been transferred to digital. In essence, newbies to the classical music world are not missing out by perusing a guide such as this Penguin edition.
Arranged in alphabetical order, by composer, the only information provided after the artist’s name is their birth and death dates. So, for biographical details, one will have to go elsewhere. But who gives a fig about these people’s lives? Not that they’re not important, but we’re after the music, not the creator.
The works are divided into sections: orchestral, chamber, solo, vocal, choral, opera, and collections of a vocal or miscellaneous nature. Album titles are alphabetical within each group, along with the record company that released it (as well as catalogue number), the conductor, the orchestra that performed it, and any featured artists involved.
For any work, such as the popular light-classic mainstay, Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” there are many recordings reviewed. To make sense out of them, from a quality standpoint, every listed recording is rated from *** (Outstanding) to * (Fair), based on a number of factors. If a key symbol is also included, that indicates a recording that is at the top of its class. As for the ratings, they’re based on sound quality (for example, how well the company involved pulled off the transfer from older sources), performances, or historic interest.
But here’s where things get interesting. While a reviewer should remain objective, these critics don’t hide their enthusiasm for specific pieces, nor their lack of enthusiasm for a conductor or performers who don’t do justice to the work they’re performing. That being said, the reader will learn that though Bach or Stravinsky had designated tempos (speeds) at which they wished a work to be played, some conductors are able to bring out the beauty or excitement of a concerto by slowing down or speeding it up; another conductor will make some parts louder or softer, with stunning results. Then again, some groups just aren’t up to the task, due to inexperience or poor recording practices; and though they may be included in the Guide, they’re rated accordingly with one asterisk- or two, if they’re at least trying to make things work.
Another interesting thing about the listings is the way some companies group the works. Sometimes there’ll be a concept album, where a collection of “spooky” compositions, like “Danse Macabre” are offered. Maybe the company puts together a group of marches, or romantic music. In the case of some lesser-known or less-prolific composers, such as Sally Beamish, there are only two albums reviewed, whereas there are twenty-one pages devoted to Prokofiev, seventy for the Bach Family.
In the end, choice of sources from which to learn about classical music are legion and based on personal taste, but for someone seeking a reference guide to the music itself, the Penguin Guide is hard to beat.
December 15, 2018
Now that I have one of the finest collections of classical music on the planet, it's fun to dip into this cinder block from time to time to see what a bunch of stuffy old Brits have to say about the recordings...
-E/K
-E/K
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews