# Need help: Please recommend a version of The Planets



## DukeinCleve (Jun 22, 2015)

Being new here, I didn’t know where to post this, but if this is the wrong place, I expect to be steered in the right direction.

I would like your recommendation among the following versions of The Planets by Holst.
1 - André Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
2 - James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
3 - Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
4 - William Steinberg and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Also Sprach Zarathustra is on the CD, too)

I used to have a version of this on vinyl that I liked very much, but I can’t remember which version it was. After reading some reviews (not here), I purchased a CD by Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony orchestra. I have heard several performances of this work on CD, and I must say this one is, by far, the worst. The performance is pedestrian and uninspired, and the recording is so bad, it sounds as if I am hearing it through a curtain. I haven’t said this very often, but I’m sorry I wasted my money to purchase this CD 

Therefore, I would appreciate your input on the above versions of the Planets, one of which I will purchase.

Thanks,

Duke

Update:
I’m sorry this was posted twice. I tried to post this in “Classical Music Discussion”, but was told I couldn’t post there yet. Therefore I posted it here. I guess the moderator posted the original in here, too.


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2015)

I don't know those ones as well, but I would highly recommend the recording by Sir Adrian Boult with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on EMI. It is paired with Elgar's Enigma Variations. It is a wonderful recording, and I have seen other people highly recommend it.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

I will second the Boult. I can't say that I've heard of the other recordings. Karajan would probably be your best contender on the list, but I would be skeptical about that one as well.


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## DukeinCleve (Jun 22, 2015)

Thanks, Celloman

I haven't heard Boult's Planets, but I will try to do so. Since Dutioit, I just won't buy a version w/o hearing 1st.


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## DukeinCleve (Jun 22, 2015)

Thanks DrMike

Even though this isn't one of the four I mentioned, I will try to give it a listen before I make a purchase.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Dr Mike gives the correct recommendation, Boult transcends any of the versions You list in the FP by miles! Dutoit is a second best choice!

/ptr


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Yep, go with Boult.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Boult, Boult, Boult.


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## Le Peel (May 15, 2015)

I prefer the Levine/CSO over the Boult/LPO.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I have both Karajan performances with the VPO and BPO. Both are tremendous but the BPO is bleaker in outlook. I've also had Sternberg, another exciting performance. If you want something traditionally British go for Boult.


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## DukeinCleve (Jun 22, 2015)

I appreciate the input. As far as wanting something traditionally British, I'm a Yankee, and I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean by traditionally British. What I do like is a work that is uplifting, inspiring or moving. Also a good recording of that work is important.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Also, Steinberg isn´t particularly exciting, IMO.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Gardiner has an excellent recording coupled with _The Warriors._


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Gardiner has an excellent recording coupled with _The Warriors._


Indeed - and the fade-out choral ending of Neptune is possibly the most beautiful performance I've heard. And although The Warriors isn't the issue with the OP it makes for an excellent and imaginative coupling.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

My favorites are:

Steinberg/Boston
Boult/London
Karajan/Vienna (Not the Berlin remake)
Dutoit/Montreal
Bernstein/New York

You would be well served with any of the above in my opinion. Each has their own unique takes. Over the years Karajan's Vienna recording on Decca has become my go to. It has some of the finest playing, sound and vision around. A lot of people overlook Bernstein's recording but for sheer energy and raw excitement it's one of the best to me.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Previn with Royal Philarmonic Orchestra and Karajan with VPO are my favorites, both are truly inspired and strong performances.


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## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

That's such a commonly performed and simple work that I'm sure anything you grab will be good. Mine is the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta.


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2015)

forget all those and get Dutoit with Montreal


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*Need help: Please recommend a version of The Planets *

I have it on good authority that the eight (and a half) planets that revolve around the star we call the Sun or Sol are pretty good, with special preference going to that third one from the Sun, especially if you plan to do any out of doors activities ... or stay for a while.

I've always wondered why Gustav Holst so ignored that third planet from the sun. Can his orchestral suite _The Planets _really be very good (adequate) without an Earth? And, it's not like he didn't know it was there. He may have been able to make that excuse about Pluto (the half a planet referred to above), but certainly not Earth!

Two versions I would heartily recommend: *the 1978 EMI recording Boult made with the London Philharmonic *(recorded May-July 1978 and released for the conductor's 90th birthday) is Boult's last look at a work he premiered in 1918 *and then recorded no less than seven times*; _and_, if you can't get that one, *the 1995 John Eliot Gardiner Philharmonia Orchestra version on DG *will pay great dividends.

By the way, Holst himself conducted and recorded _The Planets _in the summer of 1926, a recording which is still available on KOCH INTERNATIONAL CLASSICS 3-7018-2 H1. My CD has the Holst work coupled with a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 4 conducted/recorded by Vaughan Williams in October 1937. The title of the disc is "The Composers Conduct" and it's well worth having in a collection that features either _The Planets _or the VW Fourth.


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2015)

I probably shouldn't mention this, partly because it seems it's become unavailable (meaning you might have to search for it, but also meaning you might get it for next to nothing. I paid $2.50 for my copy from a record store), and partly because I've never heard it, but Leonard Slatkin recorded this and coupled it with the most convincing _Arcana_ since Mehta's benchmark recording in the seventies.

I'm guessing, from other experiences with Slatkin, that the _Planets_ is probably pretty good.


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