Ivan March

Ivan March was a British music critic, musician, and writer best known for his work on The Stereo Record Guide and the long-running Penguin guides to recorded classical music. He became a familiar name to collectors and music lovers for his clear, practical writing about performances and recordings.

He was also closely associated with the world of record collecting and listening beyond books alone. Obituaries and publisher material describe him as an entrepreneur as well as a lecturer and journalist, and note his long relationship with Gramophone, where he reviewed classical recordings for decades.

March’s reputation rests on making recorded classical music easier to explore. Rather than writing for specialists only, he helped ordinary listeners compare interpretations, discover new recordings, and build their own taste with confidence.