| The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs Yearbook 2000-2001 (Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and Dvds Yearbook)by Ivan March, Edward Greenfield, Robert Layton  (3 customer reviews)Paperback: (Penguin Books)
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Editorial ReviewsBook Description More than an essential companion to the complete Penguin Guide to Compact Discs(1999), the Yearbook 2000/1 reviews hundreds of brand new CDs and takes a closer look at some of the more unusual areas of the classical-music repertoire. Features include: • Evaluations of recordings based on sound quality, interpretation, excellence of performance, and financial value • Reviews of ongoing series, information on rarer pieces and an extensive new section on instrumental recitals and concerts • Listings of bargain and super--bargain CDs • The editors' personal selection of the 100 greatest recordings of all time The Yearbook will help you make an informed choice from the vast and bewildering range of classical recordings offered today. Praise for The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs: More valuable than ever to any serious collector of classical music. (The Wall Street Journal) |
Reader Reviews |
 Invaluable, Tuesday, July 24, 2001For any collector of classical music this book is a must have resource. Keeping ahead of, or even up with the amount of classical recordings in today's market is a near impossibility, but with some help from Penguin you can at least make an attempt to. I find some disagreement with some choices and know that I find they leave out some of what I consider to be good recordings, but it's mainly just personal taste, I have never been unhappy with a recording I purchased based in the recomendation of the Penguin staff. |
| Superb update of the ultimate CD guide, Friday, March 16, 2001 As has been the case ever since I began reading these wonderful guides in the late 80s, this volume updating the complete 1999 compilation of the Penguin Guide is comprehensive, entertaining, and highly informative. It contains reviews of thousands upon thousands of new and reissued CDs, which are full of wit and insight and which are up to the authors' usual high standards. The separate alphabetical listings on invididual performers, which unfortunately were omitted from the 1999 guide because of lack of space, are incredibly valuable. |
 Okay, but not perfect enough., Tuesday, January 23, 2001Well, we have been receiving updates in the Penguin Guide a lot. This latest offering is well up to the standard, and many new releases and a considerable amount of new repertoire are covered here. However, I cannot quite give this book full recommendation because they do not quite understand what sort of playing is poor value and what is not. They think that an hour is not good value at premium price but is definitely good value at mid-price. Also, they have criticised some recordings unfairly, such as the Abbado Dvorak New World, which is actually a better performance than they say so. But overall, I find this book slightly disappointing and I cannot recommend it fully. |
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