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benedorm's review
3.0
Lebrecht has real flaws -- he's smug, overly opinionated, and far too prone to talking in superlatives. However, he also clearly loves this music, and knows it better than almost anyone else alive. His recounting of the back-room machinations behind classical recording is fascinating, and I enjoyed the list of great recordings to check out.
mgerboc's review
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
The title is a bit misleading - this book is primarily a history of classical music RECORDING, which, to be honest, was much more interesting than I thought it would be. Told in Lebrecht's tabloid style, we get to see how the technology was first developed. Then, most interestingly, we get to know all of the major music labels and the personalities involved in the companies. The history and the economics of the industry are fascinating - the booms and busts, market over-saturation, technological advances, all mixed with the great visionaries and shithead corporatists (all with hilariously large egos) - and I honestly wish this had been a bit longer to really delve into those topics more. For anyone interested in this very niche history (and who doesn't mind the gossip-column-like style), this is an educational and entertaining read. The second half of this book is really a look through famously good recordings (and some famously bad). The reviews he has for each one, describing the merits and historical context, were of particular interest.
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