The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection : The 350 Essential Works

Rating:
Summary: A great book, but obviously not for everyone.
Review: 'The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection : The 350 Essential Works' is a great book, but obviously not for everyone. As the title suggests, it is recommending only the 350 "essential" works, so obviously it cannot list everything that one might want. Consequently, it is unreasonable to suppose that some worthwhile pieces have not been left out (Libbey says as much himself, as he regretted not being able to include more CDs that he likes). And certainly, people might disagree about which pieces are essential. In fact, I think he should have included:

Pachelbel: Canon, etc; Fasch / Paillard, André ASIN: B000005EDJ

And:

Bach, Schumann, Chopin / Mieczyslaw Horszowski ASIN: B000005J0V

(You can find these CDs at this site by searching for the ASIN numbers, leaving off "ASIN:"................

And I even disagree with some of his choices (e.g., I like the digital Karajan recording of Holst's Planets better than one that he recommends). Obviously, different people have different tastes. That said, however, Libbey's book has been invaluable for adding to my collection of CDs. His recommendations have exposed me to some great performances of pieces I would not otherwise consider, and even when I disagree with him, his choices are still good (at least among the dozens that I have heard).

He also includes a wide variety of works, so that a collection based on his recommendations will be quite broad, which, again, may not be to everyone's taste (e.g., if you don't like opera, though obviously you could just ignore his section on operas, or if you don't like 20th century music, you could just ignore his reviews of 20th century music).

If you already have great performances of the basic repertoire, then this book is not for you. But if you do not (which includes everyone who does not already have hundreds of classical CDs), then this is a book which can help you expand your collection to include all of the basic works with excellent performances.

Furthermore, the layout of the text is the easiest to read of any of the review books that I have seen. If you plan on reading the book, this matters.

Oh, and buy the two CDs I recommend above, as Libbey has not included those particular gems.

Rating:
Summary: Recommendations from the experts
Review: An outstanding guide to building a classical CD collection.As a classical music collector and a listener of public radio, I find this guide to be very essential,even for those who already have a CD collection.The book is in six chapters:Chapter one tells about music for orchestra,chapter two about concertos,chapter three on chamber music, chapter four on solo keyboard work on chapters five and six Mr.Libbey tells about vocal works,including, sacred music, secular choral music,and opera by various composers of different times.Mr.Libbey also offers great details about each work that he tells about. The book also has funny illustrations about composers and performers and about circumstances sorrounding certain compositions.My favourite is the illustration of the violinist where Mr.Libbey explains about Beethoven`s Razumosvsky quartet #1 on page 305,the chapter about chamber music. The book also shows pictures of composers, performers,and conductors.This book is of great value and help for classical music lovers everywhere.Mr.Libbey you did a marvelous job. Thanks for this great guide.A five stars indeed!

Rating:
Summary: Informative, fun, indispensible
Review: Anyone who loves classical music should have this book on their shelf. Often, there are composers I enjoy, or pieces I want, but I have no idea where to begin. There is an endless supply of titles in today's classical music market, especially for major works. This book is a good place to begin. Limiting itself to 300 works, it is able to give a good amount of information on the piece and the recordings it recommends. While you may not agree with Libbey's choices, at least you'll know what to expect when you encounter them.

Rating:
Summary: fine book for begginers
Review: Fine introductory guide A few problems: a bit too long for beginners (300 or 350 works is daunting for someone starting a collection), a bit too short for serious collectors (no basic opera collection can be called complete without Cosi Fan Tutte, or possibly even Faust depending on one's tastes). A bit too American in its tastes, both for compositions and for recordings. To take perhaps the most significant example: the Beethoven symphonies are a joke surely. Two main advantages: focus on key works helps those who have a few recordings and want to know what to explore next. Short but helpful description of the actual piece, providing a guide of what one should look for when playing the recordings. Overall it makes for a pleasant but not authoritative reading. I used it to build my collection and identify areas to be explored but not to buy CDs. My procedure was to identify important pieces with this book and the go to Gramophone and Penguin and check for common recomendations.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent introduction to classical music on CD
Review: For the individual who has recently discovered classical music, this is likely the best guide to help them get a firm foothold. Once someone becomes interested in classical music, they soon realize it is an enormous entity with hundreds of composers and nearly 100,000 CDs. Ted Libbey's book, now in the 2nd edition, is an excellent introduction to the core repertoire of classical music. It is possibly the best guide to help one navigate their first steps through this daunting mass of material. The book is logically conceived with sections on orchestral music, concertos, chamber music, solo piano, and opera. Each subsection is arranged alphabetically by composer, with about a page devoted to each individual work. This is followed by Libbey's suggestions for the best available recordings. Almost every page has either a relevant photo or wry illustrative cartoon. The prose is very approachable and most of the points are excellent ones, aptly argued in a highly literate style.

So, if I think the book is so great, why only give it four stars? First, I'd give it four and a half if this program would allow it. One reason why I did not go the full five stars is because Libbey includes stories that have not been proven. (Example; Tchaikovsky was forced to drink poison because his colleagues found out he made a sexual advance at the Czar's nephew.) There are enough fascinating true stories about the great composers without having to entertain the bizarre or unsubstantiated ones. Other possible drawbacks are some of Libbey's choices for representative recordings have become outdated, and arguments could be made that some of his other choices are not the best available.

In the long run however the book is a great success and would greatly help someone to get a solid start to become more familiar with the vast and wonderful world of classical music. Possibly a good approach would be for our hypothetical novice to supplement Libbey's book with the Penguin Guide to CDs, or the Grammophone Good CD Guide. After getting a little more familiar with the turf, one learns to read between the lines and then suddenly, the mountain of material begins to yield a visible path.

Bottom line? If you want to get started with classical music this may be the best place to look. If you already know the difference between Schubert and Schumann, or Weber and Webern, pass this up.

Rating:
Summary: Useful Tool For Sorting Out CD Choices
Review: Great starting point for one interested in building classic library of CD's. This coupled with amazon reviews will help all to make some sense of what is out there on a given composer and his works.

It's massive, and confusing, so this provides at the least a jumping off point to search and discover what one likes and finds worthy of purchase.

Especially enjoy the background comments and sections on becoming a better listenter, hi-tech remasterings, etc.

Rating:
Summary: I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Review: I am fairly new to classical music and I have found this book very helpful. It is entertaining, informative and a good source for building a classical CD collection. I consider this book one of the most valuable books I have on the subject of classical music. The information about the composers and about each of the pieces really helped me learn alot more about the music. The works listen are definately the good choices although there are always some that cannot be mentioned which are still very good. Ted Libbey's knowledge of classical music and each piece is truly amazing. Sometimes it was a little hard to understand all that he was saying about different pieces because but as I listened to the songs and following along with what he was saying, it made a great deal more sense. He really maps out what is happening in every movement of each piece of music. There is humor as well and interesting sidenotes. The book is very user friendly and I like how he groups things into Orchestral Works, Concertos, Chamber Music, Keyboard Music, Sacred and Choral Music and Opera. I have even had questions about things and have been able to email the author and receive a quick and thorough response. I have had this book for over half a year and I still have places to explore in it although it is hard to put down. You don't have to read it cover to cover, it's more of a reference book but you can if you want. Anyway, I highly recommend this book and it was definately a worthwhile investment for me.

Rating:
Summary: Pleasant beginner's book
Review: I am glad Libbey has updated this book. The out-of-date discography in the previous version made it less useful than it could have been.

Easy to read, fun. And it actually discusses the works themselves, not just the performances (unlike the Penguin book.)

But it leaves out some very important works, and some very important recordings. I agree that the devotee will probably use Penguin book more. (I do.)

A good intermediate book might be Jim Svejda's "The Record Shelf Guide to Classical CD's and Audiocassettes." Like Libbey, Svejda has an NPR show also. The book lists works that are important or that he simply likes, along with suggestions for recordings. It is a good way to find good composers or works that are less familiar. A little more opinionated and personal than the Penguin, but a fun read. His "The Insider's Guide to Classical Recordings" might also be good, though I haven't read it.

Rating:
Summary: Inadequate
Review: I bought this book a few years ago, and I must say it is simply inadequate, especially its Opera section.

The writers don't even mention three of Mozart's great works' Idomeneo, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Cosi fan tutte, which are (along with the operas mentioned) better than most operas ever written. While The Marriage of Figaro (my favorite) and Don Giovanni could be considered the greatest operas ever written, so can Cosi fan tutte.

In the recommendations section, they offer so few choices and seem to prefer modern recordings. The got Don Giovanni right, and offered up good choices for The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, but there are many great recordings of these works that aren't even mentioned. There are better recordings of The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute than mentioned here.

They also recommened a 2nd rate The Barber of Seville, when there are a few other choices that are much better - across the board. The complete failure to recommend the Callas Norma is the be biggest single downfall of this book. Callas was Norma - all Normas are measured against her, yet this book recommends the Sutherland Norma? They also recommended the Sutherland Lucia di Lammermoor and gain fail to mention the Callas Lucia and how revered Callas was as Lucia. They also recommended the Karajan Aida with, with Freni in the title role, when there are far better Aida's out there - Tebaldi, Callas, and Price to name a few. As an avid Ring fan, I find it suprising that they recommend the Bohm Ring and don't mention Solti's Ring, which is the greatest Ring. I have many Ring recordings and both Solti's and Bohm's are wonderful and different. I love them both, but would have to pick Solti for the sheer excitement and authenticity of his reading.

These are just a few of the downfalls of this book. It might suit a beginning but recommending recordings is very difficult, because recordings can make or break an opera. Example - off another guides recommendation I purchased The Barber with Nucci and Bartoli. For years I thought it was an overhyped sophmoric work. Recently I purchased two recordings - one with Callas at the helm and the other with Baltsa (two Greek Goddesses). Their interpretations of this work completely changed my attitudes. Everyone has their favorite recordings. I have a friend who loves Bartoli, I loath her. That is the problem with a guide that gives 1 recording choice.

You are better off going into a music store that offers a wide selection of classic music, has staff that knows classical music, and that offers recording guides (such as Penguin) for you to review.

For

Rating:
Summary: Inadequate
Review: I bought this book a few years ago, and I must say it is simply inadequate, especially its Opera section.

The writers don't even mention three of Mozart's great works' Idomeneo, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Cosi fan tutte, which are (along with the operas mentioned) better than most operas ever written. While The Marriage of Figaro (my favorite) and Don Giovanni could be considered the greatest operas ever written, so can Cosi fan tutte.

In the recommendations section, they offer so few choices and seem to prefer modern recordings. The got Don Giovanni right, and offered up good choices for The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, but there are many great recordings of these works that aren't even mentioned. There are better recordings of The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute than mentioned here.

They also recommened a 2nd rate The Barber of Seville, when there are a few other choices that are much better - across the board. The complete failure to recommend the Callas Norma is the be biggest single downfall of this book. Callas was Norma - all Normas are measured against her, yet this book recommends the Sutherland Norma? They also recommended the Sutherland Lucia di Lammermoor and gain fail to mention the Callas Lucia and how revered Callas was as Lucia. They also recommended the Karajan Aida with, with Freni in the title role, when there are far better Aida's out there - Tebaldi, Callas, and Price to name a few. As an avid Ring fan, I find it suprising that they recommend the Bohm Ring and don't mention Solti's Ring, which is the greatest Ring. I have many Ring recordings and both Solti's and Bohm's are wonderful and different. I love them both, but would have to pick Solti for the sheer excitement and authenticity of his reading.

These are just a few of the downfalls of this book. It might suit a beginning but recommending recordings is very difficult, because recordings can make or break an opera. Example - off another guides recommendation I purchased The Barber with Nucci and Bartoli. For years I thought it was an overhyped sophmoric work. Recently I purchased two recordings - one with Callas at the helm and the other with Baltsa (two Greek Goddesses). Their interpretations of this work completely changed my attitudes. Everyone has their favorite recordings. I have a friend who loves Bartoli, I loath her. That is the problem with a guide that gives 1 recording choice.

You are better off going into a music store that offers a wide selection of classic music, has staff that knows classical music, and that offers recording guides (such as Penguin) for you to review.

For