The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music (formerly The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and, from 2002 to 2006, The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs) was a widely distributed annual publication from Britain published by Penguin Books that reviewed and rated currently available recordings of classical music. It was written by Ivan March, a music journalist, consultant and former professional musician; Edward Greenfield, music critic of The Guardian and Robert Layton, music writer and lecturer. All three were also reviewers for the UK classical music monthly Gramophone. From 2002, a fourth contributor, Paul Czajkowski, was credited, first as assistant editor and then as co-author.
Background[edit]
In 1951 the British publisher Collins issued a guide to recorded classical music under the title The Record Guide. The authors were Edward Sackville-West and Desmond Shawe-Taylor.[n 1] Supplements were published in 1952 and 1953; a new edition of the guide was published in 1955, and a final supplement was issued the following year.[2] Four years later the Long Playing Record Library (LPRL) published The Stereo Record Guide, edited by Ivan March and written by March, Edward Greenfield and Denis Stevens. Nine editions were published between 1960 and 1974; Robert Layton joined the panel of reviewers in 1968 and Stevens left after that year's two volumes.[3] The LPRL issued two editions of A Guide to the Bargain Classics, in 1962 and 1965.[4]