Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
45 used & new from £15.91
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2009
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2009 (Paperback)

by Ivan March (Author)
2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £30.00
Price: £19.50 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £10.50 (35%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, July 15? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
37 new from £15.91 8 used from £17.77

Frequently Bought Together

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2009 + The "Gramophone" Classical Music Guide 2009 (Gramophone Guides) + The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings
Price For All Three: £59.77

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The "Gramophone" Classical Music Guide 2009 (Gramophone Guides)

The "Gramophone" Classical Music Guide 2009 (Gramophone Guides)

by James Jolly
4.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £17.52
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

by Brian Morton
4.5 out of 5 stars (11)  £22.75
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

by Alex Ross
4.4 out of 5 stars (29)  £7.49
1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (1001 Must Before You Die)

1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (1001 Must Before You Die)

by Matthew Rye
4.6 out of 5 stars (5)  £13.00
The Rough Guide to Classical Music (Rough Guide Music Guides)

The Rough Guide to Classical Music (Rough Guide Music Guides)

by Rough Guides
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £11.04
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 1602 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (25 Sep 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141033355
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141033358
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 17.2 x 6.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 90,423 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #14 in  Books > Reference > Consumer Guides > Music
    #15 in  Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Classical Music > Guides to Classical Music
    #15 in  Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Guides to Music > Classical Music

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
Classical Music Magazine
   www.bbcmusicmagazine.com    The Best Selling Classical Music Magazine, Free CD With Every Issue! 
Ultra-Fi Lifestyle Audio
   www.musical-laboratory.com    Musical Laboratory* for your Music and Lifestyle Connection 
  
 

Product Description

Review
'Indispensable, illuminating and comprehensive' The Times 'An indispensable and comprehensive survey. Anyone who wants to make sense of all the rival versions of classical music available on CD will find a great deal of illumination' The Times 'The bible for the discriminating record collector' - David Mellor, Daily Telegraph 'More valuable than ever to any serious collector of classical music' Wall Street Journal

Product Description
This completely revised edition of the Penguin Guide reviews the major classical recordings issued and reissued over the past five decades, many of which dominate the catalogue because of their sheer excellence, irrespective of recording dates. More comprehensive than ever before and now updated annually, it indicates key recordings on CD, DVD and enhanced SACD, including those in surround sound. If you want the finest available version of any major classical work (including DVDs of opera and ballet) you will find it listed and assessed in these pages. Ranging from long-established recordings to the newest releases, the latest edition represents the cream of the international repertoire and has all the information you need to select the finest classical music available.

See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(3)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2009
62% buy the item featured on this page:
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2009 2.7 out of 5 stars (7)
£19.50
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2008
13% buy
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2008 3.2 out of 5 stars (13)
The "Gramophone" Classical Music Guide 2009 (Gramophone Guides)
12% buy
The "Gramophone" Classical Music Guide 2009 (Gramophone Guides) 4.5 out of 5 stars (2)
£17.52
1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (1001 Must Before You Die)
7% buy
1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (1001 Must Before You Die) 4.6 out of 5 stars (5)
£13.00
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars If you have the 2008 guide, don't waste your money on this, 17 Oct 2008
By Steve (Huddersfield, U.K.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
When the 2008 Penguin Guide appeared, I wrote that the main problem was the sheer number of good CDs omitted. I had hoped that with the 2009 Guide, important releases missed out previously would be included.

Not a chance. As I browsed through this latest edition, I kept thinking 'but this is the same as the 2008 edition'!. I got the previous Guide out, and there is precious little difference. All those excellent classical CDs and SACDs released over the last twelve months - so few reviewed.

Just to give a couple of examples; there has been an avalanche of fine Shostakovich recordings over the last year. How many make it into the Guide? Five. Take Mahler symphonies- there's always a steady stream of recommendable new releases; just three new releases are included (and one DVD). I could go on, but you get the point.

I have been buying the Penguin Guide for years, but have never been so disappointed as by this edition. If there is not space for more releases (and it is the sheer number of excellent releases from the last 12 months omitted that annoys me) then either we should have a two volume edition, or Penguin should just call it a day. It's not as though it's cheap either. I actually took my copy back to Waterstone's (sorry Amazon) and got a refund. And the new system, introduced last year, of giving up to four stars, putting shaded boxes around some recommended recordings, a rosette for some others, a 'key' symbol for others....this must be a little confusing for newcomers.

The one guide to classical compact discs which I now find indispensible is '1001 Classical Recordings You Must hear Before You Die', which is much better than it sounds. But I think the Penguin Guide has just had its day.

Sad.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Slight improvement, sloppy editing, 6 Nov 2008
I reviewed the previous edition and remarked on the poor editing. There has been a slight improvement here but not enough to save the Guide from a so-so rating. Some CDs are noted but not rated, the text has not been updated so that "recent releases" are sometimes 10 years old and some new releases are bizarrely ignored altogether. This is the last edition I will ever invest in. I suggest that other readers think very carefully before they part with their cash.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Too many omissions but still the bible, 9 Nov 2008
By B. R. DAVIES - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have to agree with the previous two reviewers. I have been buying the Penguin Guide since the early 1980s and have become increasingly disappointed. I also bought the 2008 edition and hoped that important recordings that had been omitted would be included. Abbados Mahler 6 and 7 recordings with the Berlin PO- surely among the primary recommendations and cornerstones of my collection- are omitted! And what about Simon Rattles recording of Szymanowskis Harnasie? And Chailly's wonderful Leipzig recordings of the Mahler editions of Schumann's symphonies- not everyone's taste I know- but perhaps the most frequently played of all my new CDs in the past year. I also wonder whether the reviewers hearing is quite what it used to be. I invested in the four star-rated recording of Messiaens Turangalila Symphony on RCA by Ozawa "..comes from 1967, but you would never guess that from the brilliantly atmospheric sound"- I agree that the performance is seminal, but the sound is uncomfortably distorted and glassy at times and falls far short of what we would expect nowadays- so much so that I have never got through it in one sitting, even in the car. All this having been said- I have got Greenfield, Layton, and March to thank for intoducing me to some wonderful recordings over the years, and I still agree with most of their recommendations (such as Richard Hickox's new Elgar 1- one of the greatest ever in my opinion, and with stunning sound). For anyone new to classical music who wants to build a collection-this guide is still like the bible, but it needs some more careful editing as the market beomes ever more saturated with reissues and new recordings.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Nice cover shame about the contents
I'm sorry to say that the writers and Penguin have lost the plot. In the past I would not have even considered criticising this publication. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Real reviewer

4.0 out of 5 stars Full guide
It is a serious and well conceived review, I like it but it seems to me that it is a bit akward to handle for its 1553 pages are too much for a paperback.
Published 4 months ago by Jose G. Almeida

2.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings...
I have bought fifteen previous issues of the Penguin Guide over the years, but this will be my last for a long time. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Anything Musical

4.0 out of 5 stars Counterpoint
I've read the other reviews and I take the point about the guide changing little from previous editions (which I also had) but taken on it's own merits rather than in terms of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. Brickley

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

The Body Shop

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin Boost
Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

›Shop The Body Shop

  

Make A Wish

Get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List.

›More info on Wish Lists

  

Up to 53% off Braun Series Shavers

Braun Series 3 390cc Clean & Renew System Rechargeable Foil Electric Shaver
Get in touch with your smooth side with Braun Series shavers, now with Gillette blade technology.

›Discover Braun Series at Amazon.co.uk

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
4.5 out of 5 stars (75)£3.86
 Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer
4.1 out of 5 stars (464)£6.49
 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
4.1 out of 5 stars (165)£3.99
 The Host
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
4.2 out of 5 stars (84)£3.86

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates