--- product_id: 42336387 title: "The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010 Paperback – September 20, 2009" brand: "james jolly" price: "฿4013" currency: THB in_stock: true reviews_count: 7 url: https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/42336387-the-gramophone-classical-music-guide-2010-paperback-september-20-2009 store_origin: TH region: Thailand --- # The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010 Paperback – September 20, 2009 **Brand:** james jolly **Price:** ฿4013 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010 Paperback – September 20, 2009 by james jolly - **How much does it cost?** ฿4013 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.th](https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/42336387-the-gramophone-classical-music-guide-2010-paperback-september-20-2009) ## Best For - james jolly enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted james jolly brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010 Paperback – September 20, 2009 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51p2bzPKTvL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars It's relative. *by J***. on Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2018* It's a relative issue. Penguin is clearly better than Gramophone, largely for reasons so well documented here by other reviewers. Itoffers many more choices than Gramophone, and does so in a nicely organized way. I consult my 2009 Penguin Guide virtually everyday; it's incredibly informative and to-the-point. - I paid $4.05 (including shipping) for a VG copy of this 2010 Gramophone Guide; it issurely worth more. I don't think it deserves the heavy-handed negation of some of these reviews. If you are a music lover, you shouldhave it, but primarily as a supplement to the Penguin. Even though it lacks the coverage that Penguin has, it is still a valuable resource,at times treating a given area in more depth than Penguin - and is fun to read. While I don't let either guide do my thinking for me, I amgrateful to be able to consult them both. - If it's a question of one or the other, choose the Penguin. ### ⭐ 1.0 out of 5 stars Next To Useless *by D***E on Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2010* I must back up the reviews of the Gramophone reviews by Gordon and VanDeSande. For my purposes this book is next to useless. Penguin is much better and Third Ear is by far the best. As VanDeSande emphasizes, Gramophone considers only a small number of available recordings. And it's not clear how they select; they include performances that they rate low, middling and high. To match their two competitors it would have been better to considerably shorten many of their long reviews and bring to bear considerably more performances, at least for the basic repertoire, the essential canon. Their British bias is present, though not as pronounced as Penguin. Like Penguin, they are enthralled with 'period' performances. I am not. Going right to my (and a lot of other people's) favorites, Beethoven symphonies, they make no mention of Cluytens (BPO/'50's), Bernstein (NYPO/'60's; VPO/'70's), Muti (PO/'80's) or Barenboim (Berlin Staatskapelle/'90's)... and a great number of other performances that are highly regarded by many critics world wide. They do consider Karajan and Furtwangler and Toscanini, but how can anyone talk of performances of Beethoven symphonies and not even mention Bernstein. Maybe if you're British. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Why Gramophone Trumps Penguin (a very short critique) *by R***K on Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2010* At 1434 pages, this year's Gramophone guide is 120 pages longer than the current edition of the Penguin guide, and those extra pages have been put to excellent use. Flip to the back of the Gramophone guide and you'll find two indexes: one of works by composer, another of featured performers. These alone put the index-free (and poorly arranged) Penguin guide to shame, but as if that wasn't enough, I've found disc reviews and mini-biographies in Gramophone for composers Penguin doesn't even list: Rebel, Pandolfi, and Joseph Marx, for example. (For the record, Penguin scores with Onslow; both fail to list Platti or the Bendas.) There are fifty pages of music anthology reviews, arranged by conductors, instrumental soloists, ensembles, and singers, and six pages of web listings for classical music downloads and podcasts.More important than these extras is the quality of the reviews, and Gramophone's critics bring a literary sensibility and a quality of thought to their reviews that Penguin doesn't approach. While Penguin reviews veer towards useless generalizations, Gramophone reviews are both more explicit and more imaginative. Here's Penguin on the AAM/Andrew Manze recording of Geminiani's op.6 Concerti Grossi (which Penguin lists, erroneously, as opus 5): "Allegros are full of vigour (and bravura) while the exquisite delicacy of the solo contribution to slow movements makes the strongest possible case for authenticity in this music." Yawn.Now here's Gramophone on the same recording: "Listen to the Academy of Ancient Music lustily laying into the thick chords in the final movement of Concerto No.4, dragging back the tempo and then charging off again...Manze is free with his embellishments, throwing in double stops, blue notes, and all manner of flourishes with an abandon that won't be to everyone's taste, but which contributes hugely to the enthusiastic tenor of the music making as a whole. The orchestra is in fine form, offering a full sound whose occasional slight rawness is no bad thing in performances of such strength, directness and honesty." Unlike the Penguin guide, the Gramophone guide will tell you WHY the music, as well as the performance, is worth listening to in the first place.Reading Gramophone reviews is a small literary pleasure in its own right. Where else will you read of "our habitual expectation of orchestral colour in Tchaikovsky, a situation that doesn't really affect our appreciation of the early, almost Schubertian D major Quartet (the one with the Andante cantabile that moved Tolstoy to tears)"? Where else will you find Glenn Gould's 1955 Goldberg Variations wittily summarized as "a marvellously designed and executed building, inhabited only by a caretaker"?Does Gramophone cover absolutely every classical CD and download in existence? Of course not. It covers more of them than Penguin, though, and in considerably more thoughtful prose and descriptive detail. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/42336387-the-gramophone-classical-music-guide-2010-paperback-september-20-2009](https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/42336387-the-gramophone-classical-music-guide-2010-paperback-september-20-2009) --- *Product available on Desertcart Thailand* *Store origin: TH* *Last updated: 2026-04-28*