Gramophone Classical Good CD Guide 1998

Some earlier editions of this guide have been reviewed in these pages; whether the improvements now to be seen are responses to comments and criticisms we have made I cannot say, but improvements there have certainly been. The listings are fuller; we now have a single main list compared with the “essential” and “recommended” lists of the earliest editions; and different versions of many works are recommended. The guide now competes more evenly with its senior rival (March, 1997).

The arrangement is by composer, but no dates to give a context to unfamiliar names; the works of the more important...