In this compulsively readable, fascinating, and provocativeguide to classical music, Norman Lebrecht, one of the worlds most widely read cultural commentators tells the story of the rise of the classical recording industry from Carusos first notes to the heyday of Bernstein,Glenn Gould, Callas,and von Karajan. Lebrecht compellingly demonstrates that classical recording has reached its end pointbut this is not simply an expos? of decline and fall. It is, for the first time, the full story of a minor art form, analyzing thecultural revolution wrought by Schnabel, Toscanini, Callas, Rattle, the Three Tenors, and Charlotte Church. It is the story of how stars were made and broken by the record business; how a war criminal conspired witha concentration-camp victim to create a record empire; and how advancing technology, boardroom wars, public credulity and unscrupulous exploitation shaped the musical backdrop to our modern lives. The book ends with a suitable shrine to classical recording: the authors critical selection of the 100 most important recordingsand the 20 most appalling.Filled with memorable incidents and unforgettable personalitiesfrom Goddard Lieberson, legendary head of CBS Masterworks who signed his letters as God; to Georg Solti, who turned the Chicago Symphony into the loudest symphony on earththis is at once the captivating story of the life and death of classical recording and an opinioned, insidersguide to appreciating the genre, now and for years to come.From the Trade Paperback edition.