The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music (formerly The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and, from 2003 to 2006, The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs) is a widely-distributed annual publication from Britain published by Penguin Books, reviewing and rating currently available 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. All three are also reviewers for the UK classical music periodical Gramophone. Since the 2008 edition, a fourth contributor has been listed on a par with the three founding authors. This is Paul Czajkowski who had been involved as an editor from the 2002 book.
The Guide is often found in the classical departments of record stores. Formerly, it awarded each recording a rating of between one and three stars, with extraordinarily favoured recordings receiving a rosette. Since 2007, the publication uses four stars to denote records which are "exceptional issue on every count".
Read more about The Penguin Guide To Recorded Classical Music: Ratings, History
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