Holst's The Planets

[Peter Power Pop]

Perhaps this CD - Yutaka Sado conducting the NHK SO -  was overlooked? (Or I missed a good reason not to include it):

I've added it to the unheard pile (at the bottom of the page):

https://petersplanets.wordpress.com/

Thanks for letting me know about it, Christo.

[Christo]

Thanks for letting me know about it, Christo.

Many thanks. It was only released recently (again?), I now observed - that will be the reason. And yep, it's far too expensive.

[Peter Power Pop]

Many thanks. It was only released recently, I now observed - that will be the reason. 

Ah, righty-o. And that would explain why it's currently way out of my price range.

[brunumb]

If you're OK with secondhand (but apparently "very good"):

$0.82 – Zoverstocks at Amazon.com

Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind buying it at that price. But shipping to Australia is AUS$15. [Insert un-smiley face here]

The shipping rate is actually US$14.99.  When you factor in the exchange rate that comes to about AU$19.50 just for postage 
If you buy an item from Amazon rather than a marketplace seller the shipping rate overseas is only US$4.99   
Amazon US effectively killed off all my purchasing from their marketplace sellers   

[Peter Power Pop]

I have Elgar pieces wandering in my mind...

Beethoven's 'Eroica' would perhaps be an interesting challenge..?   

I'd probably pass on that one. If I started evaluating Eroicas, I'd probably want to pester the whole cycle. No, make that "definitely". (One symphony's not enough!)

Er, I don't want to contemplate the thought of comparing Beethoven symphony cycles – even though I now am. ("No, Peter, be strong. Don't think about the Beethoven symphonies. Not even one of them.")

Plus, the prospect of doing anything by Beethoven is fraught with difficulty. First, a lot of music fans tend to be terribly partisan about recordings of the symphonies, depending on which group they belong to. And there are plenty of The Only Way To Listen To Beethoven groups. There's:

• Mono Beethoven
• Stereo Beethoven
• Old-School Beethoven
• Modern Beethoven
• Romantic Beethoven
• Classical Beethoven
• Speed-Demon Beethoven
• Period-Instrument Beethoven
• Pro-Karajan Beethoven
• Anti-Karajan Beethoven
• Germanic Beethoven
• American Beethoven

etc.

And the fans in each of those groups usually don't talk to each other unless it's to engage in bellicose snarkiness.

Wading in amongst all of that is not for me.

[Moonfish]

I'd probably pass on that one. If I started evaluating Eroicas, I'd probably want to pester the whole cycle. No, make that "definitely". (One symphony's not enough!)

Er, I don't want to contemplate the thought of comparing Beethoven symphony cycles – even though I now am. ("No, Peter, be strong. Don't think about the Beethoven symphonies. Not even one of them.")

Plus, the prospect of doing anything by Beethoven is fraught with difficulty. First, a lot of music fans tend to be terribly partisan about recordings of the symphonies, depending on which group they belong to. And there are plenty of The Only Way To Listen To Beethoven groups. There's:

• Mono Beethoven
• Stereo Beethoven
• Old-School Beethoven
• Modern Beethoven
• Romantic Beetrhoven
• Classical Beetrhoven
• Speed-Demon Beethoven
• Period-Instrument Beethoven
• Pro-Karajan Beethoven
• Anti-Karajan Beethoven
• Germanic Beethoven
• American Beethoven

etc.

And the fans in each of those groups usually don't talk to each other unless it's to engage in bellicose snarkiness.

Wading in amongst all of that is not for me.

It would make a great Beethoven salad!

[Peter Power Pop]

The shipping rate is actually US$14.99.  When you factor in the exchange rate that comes to about AU$19.50 just for postage 

Eek!

If you buy an item from Amazon rather than a marketplace seller the shipping rate overseas is only US$4.99   
Amazon US effectively killed off all my purchasing from their marketplace sellers   

Yep. I guess it depends on where you're buying from. For me in Australia, it doesn't matter what I buy on Amazon.com, the shipping is horrendous. Amazon.co.uk, on the other hand, is much more reasonable. A couple of days ago I bought two Planets CDs from Amazon.co.uk, and the prices were:

Price:
Item 1 £0.19 (AU$0.89)
Item 2 £6.75 (AU$13.70)

Shipping:
Item 1 £3.58 (AU$6.99)
Item 2 £3.58 (AU$6.99)

Total: £14.10 (AU$28.57)

However, all is not lost in the "Classical music CDs are way too expensive" caper. I buy almost all my CDs on eBay. Prices for Planets CD can be wonderfully low there (even with the fluctuating conversion rates). Today the lowest price for plenty of different Planets CDs is AUS$4.23. Shipping is free, and there are some incredible bargains to be had. For example, there's the Gardiner/Philharmonia, Karajan/Vienna, and Andrew Davis/BBC Symphony, just to name three I haven't bought yet. Three Planets CDs for AU$12.69 shipped? Bargain!

I only buy from places like Amazon when I either can't get it on eBay or eBay isn't cheaper.

[Peter Power Pop]

I'd probably pass on that one. If I started evaluating Eroicas, I'd probably want to pester the whole cycle. No, make that "definitely". (One symphony's not enough!)

Er, I don't want to contemplate the thought of comparing Beethoven symphony cycles – even though I now am. ("No, Peter, be strong. Don't think about the Beethoven symphonies. Not even one of them.")

Plus, the prospect of doing anything by Beethoven is fraught with difficulty. First, a lot of music fans tend to be terribly partisan about recordings of the symphonies, depending on which group they belong to. And there are plenty of The Only Way To Listen To Beethoven groups. There's:

• Mono Beethoven
• Stereo Beethoven
• Old-School Beethoven
• Modern Beethoven
• Romantic Beetrhoven
• Classical Beetrhoven
• Speed-Demon Beethoven
• Period-Instrument Beethoven
• Pro-Karajan Beethoven
• Anti-Karajan Beethoven
• Germanic Beethoven
• American Beethoven

etc.

And the fans in each of those groups usually don't talk to each other unless it's to engage in bellicose snarkiness.

Wading in amongst all of that is not for me.

It would make a great Beethoven salad!

Just the thought of all those divergent and opposing Beethoven fans clashing on a blog gives me the heebie jeebies.

[Moonfish]

I know - Sibelius's Violin Concerto!!!    0:)

[brunumb]

Eek!

Yep. I guess it depends on where you're buying from. For me in Australia, it doesn't matter what I buy on Amazon.com, the shipping is horrendous. Amazon.co.uk, on the other hand, is much more reasonable. A couple of days ago I bought two Planets CDs from Amazon.co.uk, and the prices were:

Price:
Item 1 £0.19 (AU$0.89)
Item 2 £6.75 (AU$13.70)

Shipping:
Item 1 £3.58 (AU$6.99)
Item 2 £3.58 (AU$6.99)

Total: £14.10 (AU$28.57)

However, all is not lost in the "Classical music CDs are way too expensive" caper. I buy almost all my CDs on eBay. Prices for Planets CD can be wonderfully low there (even with the fluctuating conversion rates). Today the lowest price for plenty of different Planets CDs is AUS$4.23. Shipping is free, and there some incredible bargains to be had. For example, there's the Gardiner/Philharmonia, Karajan/Vienna, and Andrew Davis/BBC Symphony, just to name three I haven't bought yet. Three Planets CDs for AU$12.69 shipped? Bargain!

I only buy from places like Amazon when I either can't get it on eBay or eBay isn't cheaper.

The two CDs of The Planets I just bought were from Amazon UK.  Their postage rates to Australia are much more reasonable than Amazon US.  Somehow I can't find any of the CDs that I want for reasonable prices on eBay any more.  Even brand new discs are way more expensive than places like MDT or Presto.

I had a chuckle over your next possible project when Ravel's Bolero popped into my head.  Imagine listening to all the recorded versions of that and trying to rank them   

[relm1]

Just the thought of all those divergent and opposing Beethoven fans clashing on a blog gives me the heebie jeebies.

How about tackling Also Sprach next?

[Christo]

Most revered PPP! I'm afraid I found - again, pure accidentally, I was looking for the Sargent - another Planet, this time Sargent conducting the LSO in a recording from 1950. The timings are markedly different from those of the 1954 recording with the same orchestra that you rank as No. 52 in your list. Can it really be a different one?

[Peter Power Pop]

Most revered PPP! I'm afraid I found - again, pure accidentally, I was looking for the Sargent - another Planet, this time Sargent conducting the LSO in a recording from 1950. The timings are markedly different from those of the 1954 recording with the same orchestra that you rank as No. 52 in your list. ...

It's possible that the people who mastered the CD altered the track times. (You can change track edit points in a CD.) Or maybe it's a different recording. Who knows?

... Can it really be a different one?
[img width="300"]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XPGUk6ryL._AA160_.jpg[/img]
[img width="300"]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91Zk4MuUnCL._SL1500_.jpg[/img]

I hope so.

According to the Wikipedia entry on Sir Malcolm Sargent:

"Sargent made two recordings of Holst's The Planets: a monaural version with the LSO for Decca (1950) and a stereo version with the BBC for EMI (1960)."

But he recorded The Planets at least three times – and not necessarily on the dates mentioned in the article.

Wikipedia's "Planets Discography" page lists these Sargent recordings:

1954	– Sir Malcolm Sargent	– London Symphony Orchestra	– Decca	– Kingsway Hall. Engineer Kenneth Wilkinson.
1958	– Sir Malcolm Sargent	– BBC Symphony Orchestra	– HMV	– Reissued on CD on the EMI Classics for Pleasure label.
1965	– Sir Malcolm Sargent	– BBC Symphony Orchestra	– IMP	– Royal Festival Hall, London, February 3rd 1965. Issued on IMP CD in 1995.

It's all very confusing.

I'm going to have to wait until the Sargent CDs I've bought have arrived, and then I can see what's what.

Until then, I'm going to remain confused.

[André]

Kenneth Wilkinson engineer, Kingsway Hall: a winning ticket !! By all means let us know your findings about that version if it it lands in your tentacles hands !

As for another foray into popular repertoire, I second Also Sprach, but also Schéhérazade by Rimsky.

Le Sacre du printemps is a bit too heavy going. There's even a PPP version ( ).. Come to think of it, there's also a PPP version of Schéhérazade 

[Peter Power Pop]

I know - Sibelius's Violin Concerto!!!    0:)

Actually, that's not a bad idea. I don't have an emotional attachment to any particular recording of the Concerto. In fact, I only have one recording of it, and that's Cho-Liang Lin's:



I have that one courtesy of The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs's glowing review. And I haven't heard it in years.

Hopefully, there aren't all that many versions of the work on CD. I can handle, say, 20. That'd be manageable.

PS: The Penguin Guide I have is from 1990, and it lists 8 versions. That's alright. There haven't been all that many new recordings of the Concerto, have there?

[Christo]

It's possible that the people who mastered the CD altered the track times. (You can change track edit points in a CD.) Or maybe it's a different recording. Who knows?

It is possible. But the track timings are really divergent:

              Sargent/LSO '1950'  Sargent/LSO '1954'
Mars                  06:32                 06:37           = +05
Venus                08:45                 09:01           = +16
Mercury             03:29                 03:35           = +06
Jupiter               07:32                 07:46           = +14
Saturn               08:01                 08:11           = +10
Uranus               05:30                 05:37          = +07
Neptune             06:22                 06:28          = +06           

[Peter Power Pop]

It is possible. But the track timings are really divergent:

              Sargent/LSO '1950'  Sargent/LSO '1954'
Mars                  06:32                 06:37           = +05
Venus                08:45                 09:01           = +16
Mercury             03:29                 03:35           = +06
Jupiter               07:32                 07:46           = +14
Saturn               08:01                 08:11           = +10
Uranus               05:30                 05:37          = +07
Neptune             06:22                 06:28          = +06         

Hmm. I'm leaning towards the "I reckon it might be the same recording" side of things.

There's another possibility: That "1950" is a typo.



PS: Not even Discogs (my go-to place for accurate recording information) has details about the Sargent / LSO situation. Discogs simply lists six LPs, released at various times from 1958 onwards.

[Christo]

Hmm. I'm leaning towards the "I reckon it might be the same recording" side of things.

Yep, could be, I agree. Thanks for your sources: two times Sargent/LSO isn't very plausible, is it? And this little track timings scheme teaches me a lesson too: don't believe them, one can add 16 silent seconds by choice, apparently. 

[Pat B]

Actually, that's not a bad idea. I don't have an emotional attachment to any particular recording of the Concerto. In fact, I only have one recording of it, and that's Cho-Liang Lin's:

I have that one courtesy of The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs's glowing review. And I haven't heard it in years.

Hopefully, there aren't all that many versions of the work on CD. I can handle, say, 20. That'd be manageable.

PS: The Penguin Guide I have is from 1990, and it lists 8 versions. That's alright. There haven't been all that many new recordings of the Concerto, have there?

I bet there's at least 50 of the Sibelius VC, probably more. It's a staple. I have Heifetz, Gitlis/Vox, (young) Perlman/RCA, and Lin. (On the wishlist: Haendel, and maybe Hahn and Wicks.)

[Peter Power Pop]

Yep, could be, I agree. Thanks for your sources: two times Sargent/LSO isn't very plausible, is it? And this little track timings scheme teaches me a lesson too: don't believe them, one can add 16 silent seconds by choice, apparently. 

Yes sirree.