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Looking for a guide to best classical recordings

I'm a rocker, or so I like to think. So as you might guess, my knowledge of classical music is minimal. I am aware, however, that just having a recording of a certain piece is not good enough; that there are often "definitive" recordings of various pieces. I'm interested in some sort of guide to the "best" recordings. I think I saw some sort of Penguin guide once upon a time. Any of you have recommendations on what specifically to look for?

Thanks in advance,

Nick
nicko
ev_dearmas
15 posts
 
There are Penguin guides, a great BBC guide, and an NPR guide that covers the basics, but before buying take a look at these sites. I find them pretty helpful.

http://www.classical.net/music/welcome.html

http://music.pauljames.de/music.html

The latter concentrates on 20th century classical music.

Enjoy,
Ev
gregm
3,405 posts
 
The BBC guide is quite nice -- so is the OLD Gramophone (i.e. from until ~15yrs ago). ALthough the latter will not have the latest recordings, I find the comments consistent. Not so, in the later versions.
If you read french: "Le Guide Diapason" (out of print, but available) is invaluable IMO, so is the "Guide des Indispensables" also out of print, but often available. It''s amazing that some people (in France) went to great lengths to produce superb guides -- and then just abandoned the product!
jrd351
332 posts
 
fan reviews on amazon are extremely good
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