Rating: 
Summary: Far and away the best
Review: The closest competitor, the Gramophone Guide, doesn't even come close. This guide to music is about as comprehensive as any single volume work could be, and while it has a slightly pro-British prejudice, both in terms of composers and conductors, I have found it to be remarkably informative and accurate and I use it religiously in buying my own CDs. The authors are obviously extremely knowledgeable about music, and they are highly opinionated and not afraid to show it. The colorful writing (where else can you hear a recording desribed as "life-enhancing" or "devastating"?) makes reading the guide a pleasure as well.
Rating:
Summary: Essential...
Review: The first thing to discuss about the book is the quality of the individual reviews. They are very good for the most part. A number of criteria are examined: choral and instrumental sound, interpretive decisions, technical skill of the musicians, importance of the recording with reference to others of the same content, and value for the money. In this way the reviews provide a number of different things to consider in buying a particular recording. Partiality cannot be avoided in a work of this size, but many of the reviews tend to favor the period instrument approach to recording; also, it seems that some recordings are recommended simply on the basis of the reputation of a certain conductor or ensemble and not the merits of the particular recording. But those problems are slight.The coverage of the book is good. A number of composers are covered (but I must say that some composers are omitted whom I expected to find). I don't know about other periods, but early music listeners might find themselves underwhelmed by the number of composers and recordings presented. Also, some composers are given exceptionally small sections compared to the number of recordings that I know have been done. If all you listen to is Renaissance music you might be better off just to stick with Amazon.com's search features and recommendations. But for the most part, from a broad perspective, the coverage is good. J.S. Bach gets upwards of 50 pages. Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, and other greats recieve similar attention. Organization is good, for the most part. The composer sections are divided by the type of work (choral, opera, piano, etc.). Also, reviews are grouped by particular composition. The book is an easy reference to use, then, for those reasons. The editor's choice section at the beginning is really not very useful, though (there are too few options offered and each editor's choices tend to be very genre-specific). Recordings are chosen for inclusion in the book based on excellence: so oftentimes when you're thinking about a particular recording, it can't be found in the book. I would like to see a guide which includes more recordings (even the ones which are not as good) so that even more information could be accessed (but I guess space restraints are a problem). It's important to remember, though, that this book is about the only source for this kind of information. It brings together in one place a lot of helpful information. It is valuable especially if you enjoy music of more than one genre, or if your taste includes prolific (or maybe I should say well-known) composers. Like I said earlier, if you listen to a lot of obscure music you're probably better off with Amazon.com's features (at least that's been my experience). Almost without exception, though, you can't go wrong with this book. Recommended...
Rating: 
Summary: Still Indispesible
Review: The latest edition continues the format of pithy, sometimes opinionated, but usually helpful short reviews of a very wide selection of classical CD's. I think that it is far and away the best of its type. While one can go elsewhere for more extensive reviews (e.g.Gramophone), these usually lack the comparative quality which is Penguin's hallmark. However, two problems are emerging and becoming more serious. As the authors admit, many worthwhile recordings are omitted. Annoyingly, some of these are budget recordings which are rated in a separate volume, but the distinction and the reason is not always clear. Others may not be available in Britain at the time (not clearly specified) when the entry was completed. Some may be because the recording is not very good. The vagaries differ among composers and works, but while many are fairly complete, some are laughably sketchy (e.g. see Verdi's Don Carlos.) Given how often recordings reappear as well as disappear, it would be helpful if they continued more old reviews both for recordings still current and ones likely to reappear. Furthermore, it really is time to break the guide up into categories, such as orchestral, instrumental, vocal etc. (some of this has been done at times earlier) and thus have the space to allow more complete coverage of composers, works and performances. Nevertheless, given what is in the Guide from Penguin, it really is very good. It makes for enjoyable reading as well as being ahighly useful reference both for selecting purchases and for evaluation of new recordings to see what the quality of what else is available.
Rating:
Summary: Head and shoulders above the rest
Review: The magnum opus of review guides. The astonishing thing is that the authors score about 85% on spotting little recording nuances - even down to the subjective things like emotional impact. It is very rare indeed that you will buy a *** CD and be disappointed (it has happened to me maybe once or twice). Surprisingly, this guide actually makes good light reading. Of course, with the thousands of reviews, one tends to encounter repetitive adjectives and phrases... but the English language is limited after all! For the cost of only one CD, this book will become your lifeline to the music store and save you the grief of a CD collection weighed down by poor recordings.
Rating:
Summary: the bible...updated...
Review: The new edition of the "Penguin Guide" remains one of the best reference books available on the labyrinthian world of classical music recordings. The new edition has been improved in several ways--the binding of the new edition is superior to those of past editions and is a lot easier to use and a lot more sturdy than in the past. Additionally, and importantly, the editors have made an effort to review more releases from "independent" labels (where arguably, most of the really interesting action is going on). There remain a few problems, however. While the number of independent label reviews in the Guide have increased these remain sadly anemic in number (for instance, Chandos's Gliere anthology with Sinaisky and the BBCPO and the Chandos recordings of the Haydn London Symphonies conducted by Hickox, issues in the Capriccio Shostakovich series, several issues from ASV's Korngold series (particularly the chamber music issues), and their Turina anthology conducted by Leaper, the Artarus release of Sviridov piano music, and several issues by the enterprising Boheme label in the rarely available Russian/Soviet repertoire are not reviewed). Nor are recordings from the majors fully represented. Suprisingly, the Knussen Stravinsky, the Boulez Moses and Aron (from DG), the Bohm Salome from the Austrian Radio (on RCA), Jarvi's performances of Shostakovich's orchestral songs (DG), the box set of Vaughn Williams symphonies and orchestral music by Vaughn Williams (on EMI), and Nagano's recording of Tales of Hoffman (on Erato) remain unreviewed by the editors. Finally, there remain several errors--misplaced and displaced text, references to reviews which are no where to be found, etc. Despite these lapses, however, the Penguin Guide remains a remarkable guide to recorded classical music.
Rating:
Summary: The gold standard...
Review: The Penguin guide has its drawbacks. As an American, I am somwhat put off by what I perceive as a bias towards European performers. Still, all guides are biased in some fashion. The some complaint, for example, could be made about the Gramophone guide. Still, for the breadth of coverage, no one comes close to Penguin.
Rating:
Summary: The gold standard...
Review: The Penguin guide has its drawbacks. As an American, I am somwhat put off by what I perceive as a bias towards European performers. Still, all guides are biased in some fashion. The some complaint, for example, could be made about the Gramophone guide. Still, for the breadth of coverage, no one comes close to Penguin.
Rating:
Summary: Good guide for the basics but take it with a grain of salt
Review: The Penguin Guide is a great source for finding reviews and deciding on those "must-have" recordings. The following all get 3 stars and their reviews are right on the money: Beethoven 5 and 7 with Kleiber, Mahler 5 with Chailly/CGBW, Elgar Cello concerto with Dupre, Strauss' Four Last Songs with Jessye Norman/Kurt Masur/Leipzig. If you don't follow the latest on who is recording what and would like the best version of something or a recording of one your favorite conductors/soloists/ensembles, they have listened to it and opined. But there are occasional odd recommendations. They seem have a British leaning especially with chamber music. American chamber ensembles are sorely under-represented despite their outstanding concert reputations. Take the Emerson or Cleveland Quartet recordings with Bill Preucil. And what's wrong with the Chicago Symphony/Solti recordings of Strauss, Stravinsky and Brahms? What a major blunder to leave out the electrifying performance of Solti's Sacre du Printemps. On the other hand, I wouldn't have discovered Domus or the Gabrieli quartets without the Penguin guide. They are also particularly good at finding the good recordings of antique and baroque instrument ensembles. Right on the money with Andreas Scholl, Phillipe Herreweghe, John Eliot Gardiner and Trevor Pinnock. Take any recommendations with a grain of salt and if you plan to build a serious collection, get a subscription to BBC magazine and go to live concerts! Borrow recordings from your friends and learn!
Rating:
Summary: Accurate, Reliable and Readable
Review: The Penguin Guide is the most comprehensive guide to classical CDs that there is. The three editors are all distinguished critics, though they are all getting on in years and one wonders how long they will continue with the onerous task of putting this book together. The Gramophone Guide does not cover as much ground but the reviews are more detailed. The opinions are always reliable and, although they do not give a single recommendation any longer, if you want a fine recording of a particular work, you will not go far wrong if you consult this book. One awkwardness - the main volume is published every two years, with a year book for updates and collections in the fallow years. So one-composer discs are updated each year, but the collections will be two years out of date at some point. I know I am not supposed to comment on other reviews here but Stravinsky's Symphony in C is indeed listed - on page 1319 (The Stravinsky Edition, Vol.4 - Symphonies and Complete Stravinsky Edition) and page 1322 (Chandos). In discs that contain a number of works, the one you want is often not first in horizontal list.
Rating:
Summary: It does a difficult job well
Review: The Penguin Guide is the most comprehensive guide to classical CDs that there is. The three editors are all distinguished critics, though they are all getting on in years and one wonders how long they will continue with the onerous task of putting this book together. The Gramophone Guide does not cover as much ground but the reviews are more detailed. The opinions are always reliable and, although they do not give a single recommendation any longer, if you want a fine recording of a particular work, you will not go far wrong if you consult this book. One awkwardness - the main volume is published every two years, with a year book for updates and collections in the fallow years. So one-composer discs are updated each year, but the collections will be two years out of date at some point. I know I am not supposed to comment on other reviews here but Stravinsky's Symphony in C is indeed listed - on page 1319 (The Stravinsky Edition, Vol.4 - Symphonies and Complete Stravinsky Edition) and page 1322 (Chandos). In discs that contain a number of works, the one you want is often not first in horizontal list.
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