Holst: The Planets (LSO Davis)
£3.85
- Mars
- Venus
- Mercury
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
The Planets - Every time you listen to this CD you will be amazed at the quality of it. Excellent playing from the orchestra under the experienced direction of Davis- he makes the music shine, flexible and powerful playing from the LSO. The recording is surely demonstration quality, you cannot listen to the start of Mars - or any other section of the set -and not be amazed by the clarity of the sound.For the price, this is an excellent set, it remains one of the best even compared to rivals that cost much more.
Lacklustre performance and recording - On a reference hi-fi system, all the shortcomings of this Direct Stream Digital release are laid bare. It is flat, largely two-dimensional and lacking impact and emotion - as if the life of the orchestra has been drained away by the technology. The music is struggling to get out, and doesn t. The LSO recording spans 3 evenings and lack of continuity is evident in this disappointing and unhelpful advertisement for DSD.If you want a copy of The Planets in your collection for the sake of completeness, fine. However, if you want a recording that has excitement, immediacy, presence and 3-dimensionality then look to the award-winning Decca release by Dutoit/Montreal SO.
Big Bang Theory - If you haven t heard Simon Rattle out the Planets then you haven t lived - what can I say - a tour de force of our solar system by one of this planets great composers narrated by one of its greatest conductors.
Best Planets in the Universe - Early 20th-century British composer Holst had a Germanic name (he was of Latvian-Russian descent) but was deeply influenced by British folk music. Hence, his music is as rooted in English tradition as Vaughn Williams or Britten. His Planets, a series of tone poems creates a symphonic work of great magnificence, and is very popular even with those who are not classic music buffs. It s often used for documentaries, film and and theatrical works for its evocative melodies and sonorous rhythms.Never has this suite been more wonderfully recorded than by Colin Davis. Davis and the London Symphony avoid some of the cliche mannerisms of many recordings-- in Jupiter there is balance of the buoyant spirit with weightiness that never goes over the top. Incidentally, there is a Pluto section composed by Colin Matthews (not on this recording) that was added after Holst s death to complete the solar system, Pluto not having been discovered during Holst s lifetime. An interesting bit of trivia.
Home at last. - I have loved The Planets since a young child, but there has been a problem since then: No recording of this work has quite lived up to the Dynamic i remember experiencing when i heard this music played live at the Liverpool Philharmonic.The digital format raised hopes, but did not deliver. I have heard numerous recordings on vinyl and CD, played by orchestras from many countries. The best version i had was an 80 s LSO recording, until this came along...The Direct Stream Digital recording medium and an awesome performance by the current LSO makes me feel i have come home, THIS is the one! This CD is simply the best quality recorded performance of The Planets i have ever heard, it is breathtaking in it s scope. Mark