Holst's The Planets

[vandermolen]

That box made me appreciate Sargent's legacy for the first time. I still need to listen to the Walton 1. Thanks for recommending it, Vandermolen!

My pleasure. Hope you enjoy the Walton. Also the box contains interesting works such as Rubbra's Piano Concerto, a fine performance of Holst's Beni Mora and in my opinion the best version of Sibelius's 5th Symphony.

PS: this is really good as well. Picked it up for 1p on Amazon UK + p and p. Mars sounds closer to Vaughan Williams's 6th symphony (second movement) than I had ever noticed before. Michael Kennedy thinks that the VW work was a tribute to his long departed friend:
PPS can't get picture to appear. It is the recording by James Loughran and the Halle Orchestra on CFP.

[Peter Power Pop]

... Anyway, here's a fun idea, if you could indulge us, what are your top 5 favorite performances of The Planets or have you not reached the point where you could give a list of favorites?

Progress Report:

I'm still working on my list of recommended Planets recordings.

The list was originally going to be a Top 20 Planets, but it became a Top 40 Planets. Unfortunately, I kept listening to more Planets, and before I knew it, I had cracked the magic 50 mark. I've now ranked (and written reviews for) 51 recordings.

Now all bets are off. I'm going for every Planets I can lay my ears on.

I'm almost ready to publish the list, but there are still a few I haven't heard, namely:

• Sir Malcolm Sargent (London Symphony Orchestra, 1954)
• Bernard Haitink (London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1971)
• James Loughran (Hallé Orchestra, 1975)
• Ross Pople (London Festival Orchestra, 1992)
• Adrian Leaper (Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, 1995)

I've bought the Sargent, Loughran, and Pople CDs, but they haven't arrived in the mail yet. (I live in Australia, and shipping can take a few weeks.)

If anyone can help me out with any of those, I'd be mighty grateful. And I'll be one step closer to getting this list finished.

[Mirror Image]

Very nice, Peter. Glad to hear everything is going well in your exploration of our solar system.

[Peter Power Pop]

Very nice, Peter. Glad to hear everything is going well in your exploration of our solar system.

Thanks.

I'm hoping to have it published within a couple of weeks. I'm still waiting for a few Planets CDs to arrive.

Now, with regards to publishing, I'm in a bit of a quandary as to how to do it. The entire list, with comments on each recording, is enormous. I was thinking of doing one of three things:

1. Posting everything in this thread, with a separate post for each list item.

2. Creating a new thread, with a separate post for each item.

3. Creating a blog, with a separate post for each item.

I'm afraid that with option 1, the posts would get lost amongst all the other posts.

And with option 2, I'd want to post the entire list before inviting people to comment on the posts, but I don't think I can control that (i.e., stop people posting before the list is complete).

I'm leaning towards option 3, but that would move the list from here, where it all began.

Quandary!

[kishnevi]

Whoever starts a thread can lock and then unlock.  (Moderators can do that for all threads.). So you can start a new thread, and keep locking it until you complete the list.  Just start off with an explanation why it is initially read only.

[Mirror Image]

Yes, you're in a bit of a quandary indeed, Peter. What I would do is create a blog. This way you don't have to worry about creating a new thread or your posts in this thread getting buried. You can always provide a link to your blog in this thread and when that link gets buried, you can always hyperlink it again. This would be a lot better than making a post for each recording you reviewed.

[Mirror Image]

Another possible suggestion would be to also include the link to your blog in your signature. That way every post you make includes that hyperlink.

[Peter Power Pop]

Whoever starts a thread can lock and then unlock.  (Moderators can do that for all threads.). So you can start a new thread, and keep locking it until you complete the list.  Just start off with an explanation why it is initially read only.

I like that idea.

Yes, you're in a bit of a quandary indeed, Peter. What I would do is create a blog. This way you don't have to worry about creating a new thread or your posts in this thread getting buried. You can always provide a link to your blog in this thread and when that link gets buried, you can always hyperlink it again. This would be a lot better than making a post for each recording you reviewed.

I like that idea as well.

Another possible suggestion would be to also include the link to your blog in your signature. That way every post you make includes that hyperlink.

I think that's a great idea.

But the sentimentalist in me wants to keep it here. (Well, on this forum at least.) I might go with JS's suggestion.

What I want to do is start with the lowest number in the list (it's currently 52 – and it's a stinker), and with each post it'll be a countdown to number one.

[Mirror Image]

I like that idea.

I like that idea as well.

I think that's a great idea.

But the sentimentalist in me wants to keep it here. (Well, on this forum at least.) I might go with JS's suggestion.

What I want to do is start with the lowest number in the list (it's currently 52 – and it's a stinker), and with each post it'll be a countdown to number one.

Whew...get ready for a lot of buried posts!

[mc ukrneal]

There is another way if you want to post it here. Start a thread - but then post 50-60 times to reserve those slots for future use. Just say 'Reserved for future use' or something like that. Then, people can post after the last one you reserve. You can then edit each one as you go. But better too many - you can't add more, but you can delete.

[Mirror Image]

There is another way if you want to post it here. Start a thread - but then post 50-60 times to reserve those slots for future use. Just say 'Reserved for future use' or something like that. Then, people can post after the last one you reserve. You can then edit each one as you go. But better too many - you can't add more, but you can delete.

But creating a new thread is exactly what Peter doesn't want to do or so he mentioned previously.

[Peter Power Pop]

Whew...get ready for a lot of buried posts!

On second thoughts, I might make a blog.

Grrr.

Decisions, decisions!

By the way, I'm now listening to disc number 53: Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

[Peter Power Pop]

There is another way if you want to post it here. Start a thread - but then post 50-60 times to reserve those slots for future use. Just say 'Reserved for future use' or something like that. Then, people can post after the last one you reserve. You can then edit each one as you go. But better too many - you can't add more, but you can delete.

Thanks for the suggestion, mc ukrneal. At first I thought that would be too messy (well, too messy for me), but I reckon I can manage that.

But creating a new thread is exactly what Peter doesn't want to do or so he mentioned previously.

I don't mind creating a new thread. I wasn't keen there for a while, but I've changed my mind.

Now I'm leaning towards creating a new thread. (I'm doing a lot of leaning today.)

[mc ukrneal]

Thanks for the suggestion, mc ukrneal. At first I thought that would be too messy (well, too messy for me), but I reckon I can manage that.

I don't mind creating a new thread. I wasn't keen there for a while, but I've changed my mind.

Now I'm leaning towards creating a new thread. (I'm doing a lot of leaning today.)

There are advantages to having your own blog. As long as you know how to manage the link and such, I think the blog the best alternative. If you don't (or are not sure you would have the time to maintain everything) a thread might be better.

[Peter Power Pop]

There are advantages to having your own blog. As long as you know how to manage the link and such, I think the blog the best alternative. If you don't (or are not sure you would have the time to maintain everything) a thread might be better.

I used to have a music blog (it focused on power pop). It was hosted by Blogger, but it was deleted after I had received one too many copyright infringement notices (pop music record companies can be very touchy about people playing their music). The blog is now archived over at Wordpress.

I think I'm going to go with a new thread on the forum. The main reason is the way the list countdown will be handled. With a blog, every time you add a post, the latest one is shown at the top of the blog. For me, that would result in the highest number always being the first post you see, so when I've finished the list the first post you see in the blog will be my number one pick. I don't want that. I want people to read down the list, from the last to the first.

With a thread on this forum, it's the opposite. The first thing I post (which will be the lowest numbered item in the list) is the first thing you see, and as I progress it'll count down (count up?) to number one.

In other words:

Forum thread: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5... (what I want)

Blog: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... (not what I want)

[vandermolen]

Progress Report:

I'm still working on my list of recommended Planets recording.


I'm almost ready to publish the list, but there are still a few I haven't heard, namely:

• Sir Malcolm Sargent (London Symphony Orchestra, 1954)
• Bernard Haitink (London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1971)
• James Loughran (Hallé Orchestra, 1975)
• Ross Pople (London Festival Orchestra, 1992)
• Adrian Leaper (Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, 1995)

But these are the BEST versions, especially Sargent and Loughran!

[Peter Power Pop]

But these are the BEST versions, especially Sargent and Loughran!

The only Sargent recording of The Planets I've heard (so far) is the 1958 stereo recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra:

https://play.spotify.com/album/76YxvmXqIZxnQeEqj0ZI3V

That's on the list.

As far as I'm aware, Sargent recorded only one other version of Them Thar Planets, a 1954 mono recording with The London Symphony Orchestra:



I bought that yesterday.

I'm itching to hear the Loughran version. I bought the CD on eBay two weeks ago. It's coming from Guernsey, so it might take another week to get here in Australia (depending on whether it was sent by plane or boat). I've heard so many good things about it that I really, really, really, really want to hear it.

[André]

I look forward to read your comments PPP !!

I myself have a dozen versions on my shelves and can't get enough !

[Peter Power Pop]

Well, I've decided I'm going to go with a blog for the list of recommended Planets.

I'm using Wordpress, and what decided it for me was the fact that I can embed Spotify playlists (something i can't do here) so that readers can actually hear what I'm talking about.

I've created the blog, and added a couple of example posts for y'all:

https://petersplanets.wordpress.com/

The entries will be numbered once I've finalised the list. (It's almost there. I have about three or four more recordings to listen to.)

Feedback is entirely welcome.

[Mirror Image]

Awesome, Peter. I'm glad you went with a blog. I've just finished your review of Norrington's Planets. Good read. Keep up the good work.

(I haven't read the Rozhdestvensky review yet)