Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

The Penguin Guide To Compact Discs (latterly "The Penguin Guide To Compact Discs and DVDs") is a widely-distributed annual publication from Britain reviewing many recordings of classical music. It is written by Ivan March a music journalist, consultant and former professional musician, Edward Greenfield, former music critic of "The Guardian" newspaper and Robert Layton, music writer and lecturer. They are also reviewers for the classical music periodical "The Gramophone". It is often found in the classical sections of record stores, particularly in the United Kingdom. It awards each recording a rating of between one and three stars, with extraordinarily favoured recordings receiving a rosette.

History

The guidebook first appeared in 1960 as "The Stereo Record Guide", in response to the increasing number of stereo LP recordings available. Up to 1968 the writing team comprised Ivan March, Edward Greenfield and Denis Stevens. Penguin Books began publishing the guides in the 1970s. In those days, as the reviewers concede [ ["2006 Penguin Guide", p. vii] ] it was possible to include almost all recordings, so limited was the repertoire.

Additional volumes were printed to cover cassettes, and in the 1980s compact discs were added for the first time. By the 1988 revision so completely had CDs come to dominate that LPs were omitted altogether. Since 1997, the main guide has been supplemented by 'yearbooks', adding new recordings and recommended issues. Several other supplementary volumes have been released covering 'bargain' recordings. Additionally, DVDs have been incorporated, initially as an appendix, and from the 2006 edition in the main body of the reviews themselves.

Whilst these other volumes add further reviews, the authors admit [ ["2006 Penguin Guide", p. xi] ] that attempting to cover all releases is now impossible, and instead only the 'cream' of available recordings can be covered.

This more selective approach, coupled with a perceived British bias, has led to criticism, on internet newsgroups and elsewhere. However as even some critics agree [ [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Nov03/Penguin_guide.htm Review of 2004 edition] ] a project on this scale and on this topic (inevitably a subjective affair) could not expect to suit all perspectives.

External links

* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Nov03/Penguin_guide.htm Review of the 2004 edition]
* [http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=3483 Interview with the reviewers]
* [http://inkpot.com/classical/bkpenguin98.html A review of the 1997/98 edition at "The Inkpot"]

References