>Roger Hecht
 Penguin is
>>extremely useful.  I've heard it knocked for all sorts of reasons, many of
>>them unfair.  It's difficult to put something like this together and keep
>>it going, and they've done it.  And they are certainly useful if you're
>>looking for dead-bang comparisions.
>
>Well, as one of the chief PG knockers, I feel impelled to reply.
>
>My problems with them are severalfold: firstly the amount of sheer
>repetitive content; I would estimate that something like 75-80% of each new
>"comprehensive" edition is direfctly reprinted from the previous edition.
>
>Secondly, they tend to under-rate historical material very badly indeed.
>
>Thirdly, the "rosette" is inconsistent: [snip]
>
>And I also distrst their willingness to 9to borrow a phrase) rush to
>judgement.
>
>A few years back the forward made great play of the new technology used to
>produce the book, which enabled them to get a review in of a disc they only
>got hold of two weeks before publication.
>
>And to this disc they gave a rosette.....

No issue taken with any of these points. I don't know about the rosettes,
but I never took them seriously or paid any attention to them. I don't have
that much problem with the repetition. I just don't buy every one. As for
the historicals, I don't know if Penguin is the place to go for these or
not. They don't seem to be aimed in that direction. Apparently, they're
saying "no." I guess I'm just willing to accept the book for what it is.
I'm familiar with its prejudices and work around them. I'd rather have it
than not. Other writers have tried to write compendia of one kind or
another, and frankly, I haven't found any of them useful. Warts and all,
Penguin is it. I myself am working on a project that is aiming to compete
with Penguin. And I'll tell you, it is not an easy task. Writing a tome
full of recommendations for classical music to suit all tastes is very
tough, even when limiting oneself to his own composers. For now, Penguin is
a good starting point in checking out recordings: I'm grateful for that and
don't expect a work of this kind to be that much more.

But I can understand other's dislike of it. It all depends on whether it
meets ones needs.

Now Gramophone, ironically, that I find plenty of fault with. To me, they
are kind of between the guide and ARG/Fanfare, a sort of compromise in
terms of analysis that I don't need. Here, I find superior alternatives, at
least for my purposes. Perhaps this is a matter of taste. So be it.


Roger Hecht