# Holst's Planets



## Bloosman (Mar 20, 2014)

I realise it's a very subjective thing, but is there a "definitive" recording out there...????


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

This subject have been dealt with a number of times here on TC (Do a search) and I don't think that there can be a consensus, for me; Sir Adrian Boult's last outing on this symphony from 1979 for EMI!










No other conductor comes close! :tiphat:

/ptr


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

ptr said:


> This subject have been dealt with a number of times here on TC (Do a search) and I don't think that there can be a consensus, for me; Sir Adrian Boult's last outing on this symphony from 1979 for EMI!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm partial to Solti, with the same Orchestra.


----------



## stevens (Jun 23, 2014)

It's a very subjective thing. YES! Cant we stop here?


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Not before showing one of the most hilarious covers of all time:

View attachment 50604


Austin Powers would love it. Yeah baby!


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Art Rock said:


> Not before showing one of the most hilarious covers of all time:
> 
> View attachment 50604
> 
> ...


I had that lp! I wonder if Sir Adrian was consulted about the artwork?


----------



## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Bloosman said:


> I realise it's a very subjective thing, but is there a "definitive" recording out there...????


I think this recording could be called "definitive".


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Triplets said:


> I'm partial to Solti, with the same Orchestra.


For me Solti is a mess, he misunderstands the tempi throughout, much like Mehta do in his oft recommended disc for Decca with the LA Phil.



Alfacharger said:


> I think this recording could be called "definitive".


In principle yea, but it is not as good as any of Boult's! the 79 is like the final gospel of an ageing patriarch summing a lifetime with this piece! (I know, I'm an old geezer stuck in my ways, but on this subject I'm quite right!  )

/ptr


----------



## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

My go-to reference for this sort of question is _Classical Music: The Listener's Companion_, which said, writing in 2002:



> Of all the recordings, Dutoit is the most widely acclaimed. The sound is stunning, revealing inner details of Holst's orchestration and massive enough to blow your woofers through the wall. Magical is a word that comes to mind, though tempos are slow in the quieter sections, which are warmer and more humane than ideal.


----------



## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

I quite like Boult as well. The Davis/BBC Symph isn't a bad listen either.


----------



## Bloosman (Mar 20, 2014)

ribonucleic said:


> My go-to reference for this sort of question is _Classical Music: The Listener's Companion_, which said, writing in 2002:


Thanks for that Ribonucleic...


----------



## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

For a helpful 6-minute discussion of the work, see Ted Libbey's "NPR Classical 50". He recommends John Eliot Gardiner's performance with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon, 1995), and he does a helpful (but brief) analysis of Gardiner's interpretation. There's also a link that lets you hear one of the movements in its entirety, but Libbey plays a variety of excerpts in that 6-minute discussion.

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/105160177/gustav-holsts-peerless-planets


----------



## nightscape (Jun 22, 2013)

Dutoit/Montreal is my preferred edition of the work.


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Art Rock said:


> Not before showing one of the most hilarious covers of all time:
> 
> View attachment 50604
> 
> ...





Triplets said:


> I had that lp! *I wonder if Sir Adrian was consulted about the artwork*?


What? I always thought that _was _Sir Adrian on the left.


----------



## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Davis Toronto Symphony*

I am going to make a recommendation that will probably make many of the purists turn green. I know many do not consider it a good performance (Sounds OK to me). I am normally not a fan of multiple recordings of the same works (In the end most great performances are about the same. Sometimes the tempi may be off or there are problems with the balance or the warble of one sopranos vibrato may be more irritating than another.)

In spite of the flaws (For example, in the "Venus" Movement the winds are too loud when accompanying one of the violin solos. I can live with it.), this recording has a unique twist that may make it worthwhile as a supplement. Instead of a women's choir, Andrew Davis uses a children's choir in the "Neptune" movement. I like the different sound. I think it is a neat alternative.

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=5516&name_role1=1&comp_id=1481&bcorder=15&name_id=61968&name_role=4


----------



## Radames (Feb 27, 2013)

This one is good.


----------



## OperaGeek (Aug 15, 2014)

ptr said:


> *This subject have been dealt with a number of times here on TC *(Do a search) and I don't think that there can be a consensus, for me; Sir Adrian Boult's last outing on this symphony from 1979 for EMI!
> 
> No other conductor comes close! :tiphat:
> 
> /ptr


Another thread on the same subject can be found here.

This one deserves a listen (the Strauss coupling is very good, too):









Boston Symphony Orchestra - William Steinberg


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

arpeggio said:


> I am going to make a recommendation that will probably make many of the purists turn green. I know many do not consider it a good performance (Sounds OK to me). I am normally not a fan of multiple recordings of the same works (In the end most great performances are about the same. Sometimes the tempi may be off or there are problems with the balance or the warble of one sopranos vibrato may be more irritating than another.)
> 
> In spite of the flaws (For example, in the "Venus" Movement the winds are too loud when accompanying one of the violin solos. I can live with it.), this recording has a unique twist that may make it worthwhile as a supplement. Instead of a women's choir, Andrew Davis uses a children's choir in the "Neptune" movement. I like the different sound. I think it is a neat alternative.


Interesting, I heard numerous discs and at least 15 concerts with Andrew Davis conducting and throughout my standing has been that I feel conned out of the cheese, that it could have been utterly perfect, but because Davis settles for "good enough" instead of "perfect" he always fall short of "my" expectations..

I believe that most contemporary conductors are more then capable to read and play what is in the score, but they have been thought to be to literal with the text so their music making don't communicate like the big names of the old times.. 
Might be that most of the contemporary classical music audiences (for records or live) want the music to sound exactly the same every time they hear it, anyway, for me that is a very emasculated way of experiencing one of the most important cultural things in my world!

/ptr


----------



## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

Definative Shmetinative!, I have quite a few recordings of this work, but I always go back to the first one I owned. Its the one I like.


----------



## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

There are so many good versions of this major suite. But I have two all time favorites:
Andre Previn (teldec) and Karajan (Decca).


----------

