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Music CD - Holst: The Planets
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Music CD: Holst: The Planets
List Price: $11.98
Our Price: $7.41
Your Save: $ 4.57 ( 38% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Decca
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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1. Mars, the Bringer of War
2. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
3. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
4. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
5. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
6. Uranus, The Magician
7. Neptune, the Mystic
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028941755322
Label: Decca
Manufacturer: Decca
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Decca
Release Date: 2007-07-10
Studio: Decca
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The best of the 5 that I have
Comment: I actually played my five different-orchestra copies of this CD and this one out-shone all the rest. Two of the others include these renderings:
Holst: The Planets
Gustav Holst: The Planets
They are very good, but not up to Dutoit's art.
This was Holst's Magnum opus and what a wonderful slate of music it is! I think I like it especially BECAUSE it's easy to compare one orchestra against another with this music.
I won't be so foolish as to try to describe, in a blow-by-blow detail, this spectacular, mostly beautiful music via mere words, other than to say that this is "modern" (not "contemporary") classical music. But it may be helpful if you know this: If you like the following pieces/CDs, you'll clearly love "The Planets," and especially Dutoit's rendition.
Elgar: Violin Concerto / Lark Ascending
Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 'From the New World'; Slavonic Dances (Second Movement of "New World" Symphony)
Respighi: Pini di Roma; Fontane de Roma; Feste Romane
Hovhaness: Symphonies Nos. 4, 20 & 53; The Prayer of St. Gregory
For a quick check, (against other renditions), go directly to Track 4 and listen to that very moving late, middle-portion 2 minutes of "Jupiter" (up until they hit that Major 9th chord). That magnificent segment seals the deal on them all!
Don't pass this great CD by -- brilliantly conveyed.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: good music, not the best audio
Comment: To get the full effect and ferocity of Mars, it may be better to go with a more recent recording of Holst. The audio of this time just doesn't get there and is a little disappointing in a cd. I may order the John Williams version just to get an upgrade in the audio quality.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Music of The Spheres
Comment: Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was an English composer and music teacher of Swedish heritage, he composed his most famous piece of music, the orchestral suite "The Planets"- completed in 1916. Generally I don't like classical music (I like classic and indie-rock) I find a lot of it abstruse and pompous but occasionally I have to make an exception such as with The Planets or for Igor Stravinsky's: The Rite of Spring with its frenzied primitivism. I'd have to say that The Planets is my favorite and most beloved composition of classical music by a long shot. I generally like the composers of the early 20th century with their thoroughly modernist sensibilities and sense of experimentation that has resulted in some truly beautiful music.
Mr. Holst composed a lot more music than The Planets alone and I think he would be rather peeved that most of his oeuvre is overshadowed by his major orchestral accomplishment, but it can't be helped. The various movements of the music (Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) flow into one another slowly building into an exhilarating and glorious crescendo. The first movement rises up in a spirit of jubilation and triumphalism then the music slowly winds down again almost to a heartbeat. And the last movement is slow and melodic with a haunting orchestral choir singing in the background; it completes the suite on a gentle note. The Planets was inspired by Gustav Holst's interests in astronomy and astrology influenced by his long time friend Clifford Bax, he was also a student of ancient Hindu literature and language. If you are just getting interested in classical music "The Planets" is a good place to start, it is highly romantic yet thoroughly modern and relatively easy on the ears.
Customer Rating:
Summary: SOUNDS FINE TO ME
Comment: Most reviews I have read of this disc seem pretty pleased with both performance and recording. On the other hand I am just slightly influenced by some thoughtful comment I have seen that expresses a few reservations regarding the balance -- to me reviews are 'useful' if they show independent judgment, not if they support my preconceptions which are quite strong enough not to need reinforcing. What this account definitely is is vivid. The orchestral detail is very clear, but if I ask myself whether this is quite how The Planets sounds in the concert hall, then I'm not so sure. I like it this way, but this is not a piece where I am hard to please the way I am about performances of the Viennese classics or Ravel or Sibelius or Elgar or Walton. In general this is a very effective reading of The Planets. The tempi sound about right to me, no doubt because they are much what I am used to, and the playing and orchestral discipline are superb. This is the only disc of The Planets that I own or plan to own because it's not a work I'm fussy about, but connoisseurs may want to consider whether the effectiveness has been slightly overmanipulated by the recording technicians.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Goosebumps!
Comment: I get goosebumps just THINKING about this CD! I bought it almost 15 years ago, only interested in "Mars - The Bringer of War." At the time it was the only piece I was familiar with. At the time, I had also recently rediscovered the album, "Emerson, Lake and Powell" who did a rock version of "Mars...".
As I am so fond of saying in my reviews, the whole CD blew me away. There were such a wide range of moods included in these pieces from the power of "Mars..." to the sadness of "Saturn..." to the "Uranus..." which makes me feel I'm walking through a foggy wood, these songs still make me smile today.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Charles Dutoit often sounds better on disc than he does live. The reason for this is simple: he loves to play to the audience, and the result is all kinds of wild gesticulating that the orchestra knows perfectly well to ignore. Sometimes they ignore him completely, to the peril of the performance at hand. In the studio, however, there is no audience and the conductor is free to focus on the music. Dutoit has a real affection for The Planets and his performance is vital, insightful, and recorded in resplendent digital sound. The Montreal Symphony has a particularly powerful trombone section, which adds just that extra drop of energy to "Mars,"Jupiter," and "Saturn." A fine disc. --David Hurwitz
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