Holst's The Planets

[Whistle]

Thanks to all, will try these 3 ones.

[flyingdutchman]

Peter, I really feel you need to reconsider not doing a Rimsky overview.  Lots of versions and they're not all the same.

[Peter Power Pop]

Peter, I really feel you need to reconsider not doing a Rimsky overview.  Lots of versions and they're not all the same.

They may not all be the same, but to me they might as well be. A few months ago I spent about a week listening to all sorts of Scheherazades, but frustratingly they were all very good. No matter which version I listened to, I came away from it thinking "That was great!" Unfortunately, that happened with all of them. I listened to about 10 or 12 versions, and the more I listened the more I thought to myself, "I can't tell which one's better than the other. Aaargh!"

For someone (i.e., me) who is supposed to be able to tell them apart, this does not augur well for a survey. It'd end up with me simply saying "Just buy any version – they're all magnificent".

However, I am tempted to go all "complete survey" on Orff's Carmina Burana. I can tell the difference between versions of that work. Or maybe Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Or Ravel's Mother Goose. It's just getting up the nerve to set aside a few months to listen to one piece of music over and over again.

[North Star]

They may not all be the same, but to me they might as well be. A few months ago I spent about a week listening to all sorts of Sheherazades, but frustratingly they were all very good. No matter which version I listened to, I came away from it thinking "That was great!" Unfortunately, that happened with all of them.

The horror!!!!

[Peter Power Pop]

The horror!!!!

Yep.

As someone who can now pretend to be a connoisseur* of Scheherazade, I can tell you: Buy any Scheherazade – you're gonna love it.

But there is one version I can tell you to stay away from: the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra / Sascha Goetzel, from 2014. It has weird bits in between each movement that are meant to be all exotic, but they take you right out of the piece. The performance of Scheherazade itself is fine and dandy, but those interpolations were unnecessary.


(*Does listening to 10 or 12 versions of something make me an instant expert?)

[Karl Henning]

The horror!!!!

Hah! Yes: great problem to have.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Peter Power Pop]

Yep.

As someone who can now pretend to be a connoisseur* of Scheherazade, I can tell you: Buy any Scheherazade – you're gonna love it.

But there is one version I can tell you to stay away from: the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra / Sascha Goetzel, from 2014. It has weird bits in between each movement that are meant to be all exotic, but they take you right out of the piece. The performance of Scheherazade itself is fine and dandy, but those interpolations were unnecessary.


(*Does listening to 10 or 12 versions of something make me an instant expert?)

I just counted how many Scheherazades I actually listened to, and it wasn't 10 or 12, it was 30.

Really, buy any one.

[flyingdutchman]

Well, I wouldn't buy any one.  There are some clear winners and they are the following in no specific order:

Reiner
Beecham
Kondrashin
Stokowski (LSO version on Cala)

Those each have differences that make each special.  The Reiner finale is amazingly incisive and the triple tonguing is amazing in the finale.  Stokowski really pulls and pushes his way around, but the things he does with the strings and the 2nd movement is so achingly beautiful.  Kondrashin is just brutal and manic and the Beecham is so beautiful in its approach that it's hard to eliminate it from the other 3.  It might be the one that I would leave off compared to the others.  BUT, any others pale in comparison to those 4.

[Peter Power Pop]

Can't be any worse than this one:

Now that I gotta hear.

[Karl Henning]

Now that I gotta hear.

I saw that coming 

[Peter Power Pop]

And I found it online. Woohoo!

I saw that coming 

Now that I gotta hear.

[vandermolen]

Not enough love for Adrian Boult's 'Planets' here - after all, according to Holst himself, Boult was the first to make 'The Planets shine'.

[Peter Power Pop]

Not enough love for Adrian Boult's 'Planets' here - after all, according to Holst himself, Boult was the first to make 'The Planets shine'.

Not to set any cats among pigeons here, but for me "first" doesn't mean "best".

Although young Adrian eventually recorded Those Planets five (!) times, he wasn't actually the first.

The very first recording of the full work goes to Gustav Holst himself. He recorded it in 1922-24. The Boultster's first Planets recording was in 1945.

[Peter Power Pop]

Here's Scheherajazz in all its glory:

https://www.youtube.com/v/SxejP4vRvIw

[André]

Peter, who (conductor/orchestra) would you like to hear in The Planets today ? I mean, not everybody has recorded them yet ! There are some good talents out there in the younger generation. Any of them you fancy would be good holstians?

[Peter Power Pop]

Peter, who (conductor/orchestra) would you like to hear in The Planets today ? I mean, not everybody has recorded them yet ! There are some good talents out there in the younger generation. Any of them you fancy would be good holstians?

Er...

I don't really follow orchestras and conductors, so I'm way out of the loop with the newer musicians.

All I can do is think of conductors I've liked over the years who haven't recorded The Planets, such as Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Christoph von Dohnányi, Semyon Bychkov, Mark Ermler, and a few other conductors I can't think of at the moment. I would have loved to hear what those dudes could do with that music.

Pretty much all the major orchestras have recorded Them Planets, so no particular orchestra is coming to mind.

There is, however, one conductor I can think of who would make a complete mess of The Planets, and that's Valery Gergiev. I can picture him missing the point of every aspect of the music.

[André]

I fully agree with your assessment of a potential Gergiev recording. As enticing as ketchup and peanut butter on the same toast.

[Mirror Image]

Gergiev is a good conductor, but not someone I'd imagine doing well in The Planets.

[Peter Power Pop]

Gergiev is a good conductor, ...

I really like his recording of The Nutcracker.

... but not someone I'd imagine doing well in The Planets.

Nope.

[Peter Power Pop]

I fully agree with your assessment of a potential Gergiev recording. As enticing as ketchup and peanut butter on the same toast.

Or eating an apple straight after brushing your teeth.