prk@charm.UUCP (Paul Kolodner) (03/04/85)
I humbly suggest that every person who is interested in good music rush right out and subscribe to the American Record Guide. ARG is a bimonthly periodical which is devoted almost exclusively to reviews of classical recordings. It began in 1935 and has been published almost continuously (exceot for a period of financial difficulties about ten years ago) since then. The contents consist of classical record reviews with some space devoted to music books, sound equipment (from a moderate-price-range point of view), film music, spoken recordings, and an occasional long article on a musical topic, such as Scandinavian composers or a discography of some artist. There are several reasons why ARG is an interesting and worthwhile magazine. First, the record reviews are quite thoughtful. Some are short, and some are long, often including detailed references to the score and comparisons with other recordings of the same work, by the same artist, or of music by the same composer. The editors don't seem to impose any format or length restrictions. Second, there is minimal advertising, and the editors don't seem to care about the opinions of the advertisers. About three years ago, a reviewer paaned a major release on Deutsche Grammophon. The next month, they published an angry letter from DGG saying that they had better get decent reviews, or they would reconsider their advertising policy. The editors responded with (I paraphrase) "Flake off, Fatso!". I was quite proud of them. In general, the reviewers arequite unafraid of giving a bad review, even to a major artist on a major label. This is quite different from magazines like Stereo Review or High Fidelity, wherer great records getgreat reviews and lousy records get good reviews. Third, ARG reviews many interesting recordings, on labels and by artists who never seem to be discussed in other periodicals. Every month, I would say that I read about three or four records which I feel I must buy NOW, and about ten or fifteen others that I'd like to have (as well as quite a few that I might have bought if I had not been warned). I stopped reading other music and hi-fi magazines about fifteen years ago. A year's subscription to ARG costs $19.50 ( that's the going rate for editorial honesty) and is published by HELDREF, 4000 Albemarle St. NW, Washington, DC 20016 (phone 202-362-6445). Cautio: HELDREF publishes several other journals, so specify ARG if you send them a check.