The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings

Allan Kozinn

Henry Holt and Company, Aug 2, 2004 - Music - 348 pages

A dazzling appraisal of the definitive classical music performances available today

For classical music lovers, there is nothing more beguiling and exciting than the range of technique and emotion that can capture or transform the great works in the hands of a conductor and musicians. But with hundreds of recordings released every year, discovering the jewels is a challenge, for newcomers as well as for connoisseurs.
New York Times classical music critic Allan Kozinn offers the ultimate collector's guide, packed with a rich history of the composers and performers who stir our souls. From Bach's eloquent Goldberg Variations performed by master pianist Glenn Gould at the beginning and end of his career in startlingly different interpretations, to a lyrical performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade conducted by Kiril Kondrashin shortly after his defection from the Soviet Union, Kozinn places each work in the greater context of musical development and stretches the listener's understanding of each pivotal composition. These original essays on the one hundred greatest recorded classical works provide both practical guidance for building a library and deep insight into the transcendent power of music itself.

What people are saying

Review: The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings

User Review  - Michelle - Goodreads

A critic's guide to the most important recordings. Collection of short essays that trace 900 years of the most influential classical music.

Review: The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings

User Review  - Ed - Goodreads

I love books like this, that attempt to choose and review the "best" of some category, in this case, classical music recordings. Even if my own tastes are largely at odds with the critical consensus ...

About the author

Allan Kozinn is a classical music critic for The New York Times. Before joining the staff of the Times in 1991, he was a contributing editor for the classical music magazines High Fidelity, Opus, and Keynote, and he was the music critic for The New York Observer. He lives in New York City.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings; The New York Times Essential Library
• Author: Allan Kozinn
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, 2004
• ISBN: 0805070702, 9780805070705
• Length: 348 pages
• Subjects: Music / Discography & Buyer's Guides; Music / Genres & Styles / Classical; Music / Reference