[.ca] The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection: ... (ISBN 0761104879)

Classical Music Bible: A Great Source Of Reference:
National Public Radio has issued other related books, including the Guide to Opera. This Classical Music Guide is one of the best sources for classical music. If you are a novice and wish to take it upon yourself to learn about classical music, this will be a great source. It works like a music appreciation course in its own right. If you are already a fan and wish to build a collection of great recordings, this is also very effective. Here are all the great names in classical music- Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, Berlioz, and the opera composers Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini. Terms in music are clearly defined and recommended conductos, orchestras and recordings are listed - Herbert Von Karajan, hailed as the best conductor of the 20th century after Arturo Toscanini was in the turn of the century, and the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic which are world famous, conductors Leonard Bernstein (of Broadway musical fame Westside Story and Candide) Bruno Walter, Paul Paray, Antal Dorati, John Elliot Gardner, George Szell who was the longest running conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, Eugene Ormandy, Zubin Mehta, George Solti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Charles Mackerras, Thomas Beecham, Dutoit, Andre Previn, Colin Davis, Neville Marriner and the recent conducting of Simon Rattle and Essa Pekka Salonen. Virtuoso musicians like the pianist Arthur Rubinstein, Murray Perahia, violinists Iztak Pearlman, Isaac Stern and Zuckerman, Midori, Chang, Hilary Hahn and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Let's nor forget trumpet talents Winston Marsalis and Hakan Herdenberger. Provided here are a history and chronology of classical music periods and the influential composers. In the Baroque Era (1600-1750) Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. Bach's Brandenburg Concerti, Toccata And Fugue in D Minor, Violin Concerti and Chorale Preludes as well as Goldberg Variatons among other works are his most famous. Handel's Water Music, Royal Fireworks Music and Concerto Grosso stand out as much as his operas- Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare, and his majestic oratorio The Messiah. Vivaldi is most famous for The Four Seasons but a lot of his string ensembles are excellent music of the period. For the Classical Era (1750-1820) the biggest name is Mozart, whose Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is his signature, but composed the best piano, violin, flute and clarinet concerti, symphonies and operas- Le Nozze Di Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. Franz Joseph Haydn's many symphonies are considered the first ever written, but he composed music for keyboard, the famous Trumpet Concerto in E and the oratario The Creation, a sublime choral piece. Let's close with the Romantic Era, which was in the 19th century. The music was emotional, expressive and colorful. Mendelsshon has several great symphonies, including The Italian Symphony, as well as the pieces A Midsummer Night's Dream Incidental Music and Hebrides Overture/Fingal's Cave and a virtuosic violin concerto. Brahms' Four Symphonies are his best works, and also famous is his Academic Festival Overture, as well as his concerti. Berlioz has the Symphony Fantastique and other large-scale orchestra works. Dvorak has the famous "New World" symphony and Tchaikovsky has his ballets Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker as well as 1812 Overture, Piano Concerto No. 1, Violin Concerto and six symphonies plus operas Queen Of Spades and Eugene Onegin to his credit. Rachmaninov has his famous piano concerto and the Impressonistic style of Debussy and Satie foreshadow the more modern style of Stravinsky and Shostakovitch as well as Arnold Schoenburg's atonal works. This is the Bible of Classical Music.

A very helpful reference with interesting commentary.:
This is an excellent guide for "Building a Classical CD Collection". The choices of selections and specific recordings, and the organization, writing, and extras are all first rate. The book is divided into six sections based on types of music (not era's or composers). Although the first section is 200 pages, many of the composers are introduced there so the book is reasonably balanced. A typical four pages consists of a bio on the composer (adding a real sense of history), a description of a selection, then a few performances with commentary on each recording as well. The author's picks include many from the Berlin and Vienna orchestras, and several from London, Montreal, Chicago, New York, Boston, Cleveland, Amsterdam and Columbia. He chose Karajan recordings, as well as Bernstien, Dutoit, Colin Davis, Gardiner, Previn, Walter, Szell, and Marriner. Performers mentioned include Rubinstien, Ashkenazy, Pearlman, Perahia, Mutter, and Schiff. There are also plenty of interesting short stories and pictures about composers, conductors, orchestras, and performers added in the generous margins. Another helpful section placed at the end, gives suggestions for: beginning a collection, teenagers, special occasions, and other favorites of the author. After this, there is a helpful index of composers and performers. If you don't like having only a few recommendations for each work, getting a Penguin or Gramophone guide may help. And of course: **read the reviews at Amazon.com!** The book covers most of the "essential works" extremely well, but with 350 selections, it seems that a few other works could have been included: Vivaldi concertos, Sibelius Finlandia and no.1, Rachmaninov piano no.3, Bruckner no.4, Handel concerto grossi, Schubert no.5 and string quartet no.14, Ravel La Valse, Mendelssohn no.3, more Schumann, Gershwin piano concerto in F, Schoenberg Moonstruck Pierrotierrot, and the Mahler eighth. Note to the author and publisher: I would welcome updates every five? years or so, to keep up with all of the new recordings.

My guide for 9 years:
In 1994 I sought a guide for building my collection. I bought the first edition, and promised myself to acquire a copy of every work listed, over a leisurely span of seven to nine years. I continued the process with the second edition. Yesterday (8/18/03), I acquired the last CD. This book has been my "goodie list" for the last nine years, as I searched online and in stores/ basements/ shelves for what has been the most protracted and immensely enjoyable musical scavenger hunt of my life. My issues are dog eared, thumbworn, scrawled with across with notes, sprouting Post-It notes, and a personal source of immense pride and happiness. I trusted this book to lead me and my pockebook. Now I look at and listen to my collection as I reread Mr. Libbey's text. One day, I hope my children will do the same. Thanks, Mr. Libbey, for providing me the blueprint that I followed, word for word, as I built my classical musical hierloom.

Inadequate:
I bought this book a few years ago, and I must say it is simply inadequate, especially its Opera section. The writers don't even mention three of Mozart's great works' Idomeneo, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Cosi fan tutte, which are (along with the operas mentioned) better than most operas ever written. While The Marriage of Figaro (my favorite) and Don Giovanni could be considered the greatest operas ever written, so can Cosi fan tutte. In the recommendations section, they offer so few choices and seem to prefer modern recordings. The got Don Giovanni right, and offered up good choices for The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, but there are many great recordings of these works that aren't even mentioned. There are better recordings of The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute than mentioned here. They also recommened a 2nd rate The Barber of Seville, when there are a few other choices that are much better - across the board. The complete failure to recommend the Callas Norma is the be biggest single downfall of this book. Callas was Norma - all Normas are measured against her, yet this book recommends the Sutherland Norma? They also recommended the Sutherland Lucia di Lammermoor and gain fail to mention the Callas Lucia and how revered Callas was as Lucia. They also recommended the Karajan Aida with, with Freni in the title role, when there are far better Aida's out there - Tebaldi, Callas, and Price to name a few. As an avid Ring fan, I find it suprising that they recommend the Bohm Ring and don't mention Solti's Ring, which is the greatest Ring. I have many Ring recordings and both Solti's and Bohm's are wonderful and different. I love them both, but would have to pick Solti for the sheer excitement and authenticity of his reading. These are just a few of the downfalls of this book. It might suit a beginning but recommending recordings is very difficult, because recordings can make or break an opera. Example - off another guides recommendation I purchased The Barber with Nucci and Bartoli. For years I thought it was an overhyped sophmoric work. Recently I purchased two recordings - one with Callas at the helm and the other with Baltsa (two Greek Goddesses). Their interpretations of this work completely changed my attitudes. Everyone has their favorite recordings. I have a friend who loves Bartoli, I loath her. That is the problem with a guide that gives 1 recording choice. You are better off going into a music store that offers a wide selection of classic music, has staff that knows classical music, and that offers recording guides (such as Penguin) for you to review. For

Brilliant reviews on orchestral works and concertos:
The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection is a good start but, it has its limitations. Ted Libbey gave himself a daunting task in putting this guide together. He did an excellent job on the two chapters on orchestral works and concertos, which comprise about half the book. These chapters alone make this book worth the money. His commentary is concise without losing important detail. The reasons that he selected the recommended recordings are clearly laid out. He gives the audiophile a genuine opportunity to understand what is good in a specific recording and what is missing. In many cases he provides more than one choice and explains the differences between the recordings. Based on his commentary, I am obsessively trying to find the Elan recording of Santiago Rodriguez playing Prokofievâ¬s Piano Concerto No. 3. As the guide progresses, however, the author seems to lose interest. His chapter on chamber music is adequate. Then, he zips through solo keyboard works and sacred music. By the time he gets to the last chapter on Opera he has given up. It is ridiculously short. The entire subject is covered in 60 pages! It is not well edited. At one point he states that Leontyne Price is the â¬Sgreat Aida of our timeâ¬ý; then he does not mention her recording of this Verdi masterpiece. His recommendation of Mirella Freniâ¬s Aida is a surprise. It is in this chapter that the author has decided not to give any reasons for his recommendations. And so, we are left puzzled. What is wrong with Leontyne Priceâ¬s Aida? All of Marilyn Horneâ¬s opera recordings are overlooked. He correctly lists the brilliant Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Bjorling recording of La Boheme, but fails to note that this is a mono recording. Perhaps Ted Libbey should have co authored this book with someone interested in vocal music, or represented this as the essential guide to orchestral works and concertos. It is certainly worth having. But the true classical CD collector will need other guides for help in finding those special vocal and solo instrument recordings. I recommend this with some reservation.