Rating: 
Summary: Very good, but...
Review: I found this book the best guide to classical recordings available, but... 1/the liric music reviews are very disappointing: the parameter used for rating the symphonic music can't be used for operatic music, as they do. The result is that very lively performances by the musical point of view are overrated despite the cast or the interpretation is fully unsatisphing.(i.e. the Solti's interpretation of "La Traviata" and "Rigoletto") 2/the reviews are "british based", it seems that only in UK is possible to find good orchestras or conductor. 3/when a label stops pubblishing a records it desappear from the guide. Many poeple who could be interested in used records or magazine's reissues of the performance can't be satisfied by this approach.
Rating: 
Summary: An invaluable resource, informative and helpful
Review: I found this to be an invaluble reference when I first started collecting classical music 10 years ago. I felt confident that I could choose the best recording available, both in sound and performance. I also learned a lot of music history by reading the Guide. The only downside is that some of the CDs listed are no longer in print, or only available in Europe. It's also impossible to list all the releases out there, so there are some great recordings that are not mentioned. But overall, it is the best resource for buying classical CDs available.
Rating:
Summary: it's hard to shop for classical CDs without it
Review: I have been an avid collector of these books since starting a classical music library over 20 years ago. The most recent edition maintains the high standard as prior issues. For the record, the "N" is used to designate a new release/recording that has not been reviewed in a prior edition. While the editors' opinions are as a rule highly reliable, they do not guarantee that what they consider to be an outstanding recording will automatically become a favourite for the potential buyer. So this book is truly a guide and no more than that. Oddly enough there are more proofreading errors in this issue than prior editions - particularly with cross-referencing - but that should not deter anybody. Considering the vast amount of material it covers, it remains very competitively priced. The use of two columns per page - which one hardly ever sees outside of the Bible (!) - adds to the depth and concentration of the book. The editors have gone to the trouble of adding expository material when evaluating recordings of obscure works, which gives the reader added motivation to try them out. The book is very strong in the area of Scandinavian music, mainstream and otherwise. These books are also quite sturdy and can take some abuse without literally coming apart. All foreign accents are used where required. Still a very fine reference. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful and Interesting
Review: I have found this guide to be a great help in selecting classical music recordings. Reading this is like having an erudite friend helping you select cds. I used to take previous versions to the music store with me just to browse. It's also interesting to read. I've learned a lot about classical music from reading it, and the authors have introduced me to many obscure composers that I now love. It has broadened my musical taste.
It's true that this guide goes out of date quickly, but it's not too expensive, considering its size, and if it saves you from just one regrettable cd purchase it will have paid for itself. I strongly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Useful -- but quite biased -- guide
Review: I won't rehash the accolades this guide has received, nor will I question its usefulness. I have spent many hours poring over its contents, and my CD collection is better for it. Having said that, this guide carries the strong British bias of the three authors, and it's not hard to find it. For example, Britten and Elgar both merit extensive entries, with a liberal sprinkling (20+) of rosettes between them. Bartók gets a far smaller entry, with one measly rosette, and not even the Stravinsky Edition merits the coveted prize. There's little Copland and Ives (especially where chamber music is concerned--some important recordings missing here), less Carter, and *no* Cage or Feldman. Perhaps even more telling is that when the authors see fit to award a rosette to the likes of Berlin (Annie get your gun), Gershwin (Porgy & Bess) or Kern (Showboat), it's for recordings by the LPO or London Sinfonietta! Now, really. There are *many* more examples I could cite, but you get the idea. Anyway, buy and use this book, but you'll need to supplement it to get more balanced coverage (like, for starters, with Ted Libbey's excellent and newly-revised guide).
Rating:
Summary: Stravinsky Not Neglected
Review: I'd just like to point out that the reviewer below who only gives this publication two stars is quite in error when he asserts that the Symphony in C by Stravinsky is not listed. It appears on volume 4 of Sony's Complete Stravinsky Edition. The contents of all twelve volumes of this famous release are listed in full in the Penguin Guide and most of the works of any importance are reviewed.
Rating:
Summary: The Indispensable Guide to Classical Music CDs
Review: I've been using the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs under its various names for as long as it has been published. Together with Gramophon Magazine's Good CD Guide, it is one of the indispensable tools to use in winnowing through the mountains of recordings issued for popular compositions, such as the Vivaldi Four Seasons, and for discovering compositions, composers and performers you might not have considered previously. The Guide does not pretend to be a Schwann's guide to all CDs in print. Rather, it is a selection from what is available, and it is wonderfully helpful. The taste and erudition of the reviewers is almost always on target, always allowing for differing tastes in music and performance. This new edition is better than previous ones because it includes even more recordings, and because it does so in a larger format. This is definitely a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: HERE'S HOW TO FIND THESE RECOMMENDED CDs:
Review: I've heard quite often that American readers have great difficulty finding the recordings that are recommended in the Gramophone and Penguin CD guides--primarily because these guides work from the catalog of CDs that are in print in the UK, but also because they recommend many CDs that must be imported into both the UK and US from Germany. Here's one trick to finding many, many imported CDs in the Amazon database--the only way I know of, in fact. Specially imported classical CDs retain their original label: Philips, Decca, Deutsche (from Deutsche Grammophon), Classics for... (from Classics for Pleasure), Archiv, Eloquence, Teldec, Virgin, etc. By contrast, CDs released domestically on these labels show up as Polygram, Universal, Elektra, etc. (these labels' "parent" companies). So--if you go to the classical search page and type "Deutsche" in the label field and nothing else, you get about 400 or 500 results that are specially imported Deutsche Grammophon CDs. Likewise, if you search only for "Philips" or "Decca," you will be astounded by the results--hundreds of imported CDs on these labels that I don't think can be found any other way because most imports don't carry catalog numbers. For example, dozens of DG Galleria discs can be found only by searching with "Archiv" in the label box. The peculiarity is that often these imported discs apparently have links and info for the performers, but if you search for this performer from the classical search page, these imported CDs still don't show up! Very strange... For example, searching for "Dumay" on the classical search page brings about 15-20 results, but clicking the "Dumay" link on an imported CD page brings about twice as many results! So--the other trick to searching is to click on links for a performer, and don't rely only on searching for a performer. You almost always get significantly more results by clicking a link than by searching. You can, of course, also find many--but not all!--of these CDs on the Amazon.co.uk site, which is just as easy as using Amazon.com, but often the price advantage is in Amazon.com's favor, so it can really pay off to sift through the extensive import search results. And in the case of imports from Germany, the Amazon database often still carries imports that are no longer available through the UK outlet. Examples of CDs I've found by doing label searches are Andras Schiff's box sets of Schubert piano sonatas and Mozart piano concertos, the Bruggen box set of Haydn's Sturm/Paris/London symphonies, all of the Dumay/Pires chamber music recordings on DG, Brendel's 4-disc set of the Haydn piano sonatas, recently released Double Deccas of Bizet, Hindemith, Stravinsky, and Vivaldi, Dvorak piano quintets by Richter and the Borodin Quartet, the Bohm set of the Mozart symphonies, the Alban Berg set of the late Mozart string quartets--all these recordings are very highly rated by either the Gramophone or Penguin guides, and I found all of them by sifting through the hard-to-find imports. Finally, what I've sometimes done, and what other classical music-lovers can do is, after I've found one of these highly rated recordings, I use Amazon.com's recommendation feature to create links to this hard-to-find disc from other recordings of the piece. For example, from Kemff's Schubert box set I created a link to the imported Schiff Schubert box. It was through one of these links that I found the Chung / Zimerman Gramophone Award-winning recording of the Strauss / Respighi violin sonatas on DG Galleria-thanks to whoever did that! Happy searching--and listening!!
Rating:
Summary: Indisdpensable, Authoritative, Beautifully Written
Review: I've used the Penguin Guide for some 20 years now. Hasn't failed me yet. If you like music/audio critics who are artistically inspired, knowledgeable, musically and technically experienced, and who write with phenomenal clarity about their choices and judgements, this Guide has no competition. Their critiques conjure revealing and colorful detail. No arbitrary judgements here; their choices are always fair and well considered. Their "first choice" items have never disdappointed; if my dealer couldn't get or didn't have Choice #1 in stock, I was always amazed that the "lesser" choices in a musical piece were still very good picks. The critical articles also excel in their evaluation of the sonic character of recordings (always technically right-on, in my experience). Save yourself lots of searching and considerable cash by investing in this well-wrought and informative guide. I've tried them all; other guides can't touch this one. An unqualified, 5-star winner.
Rating:
Summary: A more than expected classical music CDs buying catalog
Review: If sometimes you have been encountered by the dilema of chosing between several interpretations of a certain work and finally take the risk of spend your money in one... that did not suit your tastes; then, you will find this book very useful to get more certainity at those moments. First of all, it is virtually impossible to have the same tastes of the editors of this book, but this is not its objective neither. It presents perpectives of the sound, interpretation and general quality of the recordings and the people who wrote this has listened to a HUGE amount of selections, between versions of a work and other ones. So you can rely on them as they actually can be consider as experts in the matter. They have a special qualification for the recordings and gives you a reference based on their personal tastes. The rosette is the highest ranking of a recording and then you have three to one "*s" which means that more is better. You can actually buy your recordings based on their references and get at least 95% of probability for high satisfaction. It is a nice way to get you informed before running to the CD store...!
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