Customer Reviews
As Holst intended? - By: M. Maxwell, 19 Jul 2007 
This version of The Planets has replaced my recent LSO version.
Why? Well, the balance between the contributing elements is the best i've heard so far: The bass is thunderous analogue & the high woodwind/strings are like crystalin equal measure. This is a superb achievement & exceptionally important for, 'large orchestra' where Dynamics become a recording engineer's delight or problem depending on how good they are. And these people are the best: Abbey road have done a fantastic job on the remastering of a late 70's classic, although there is one thing they could never tackle: Is this as Holst intended?
Bolt was a friend of Holst & was given the opportunity to first conduct the piece; Bolt read & heard the original 'two piano' score & must have got the full S.P. from Holst? If this is so, then what we have here is close to the real deal?
OK, Bolt had five cracks at this recording before producing this last version, so we may have the advantage of decades of Bolt's polishing & highlighting the manifold textures one may hearin this genius of a masterpiece. It certainly sounds like it.
I was surprised to hear a faster 'Venus' than i think i have ever heard before, & 'Jupiter' is a bit nippy also. But i was also surprised at how quickly i accomodated these unexpected nuances & began to listen to the clarity of what was going on instead. I don't think i have ever before been able to hold so many themes & harmoniesin one passing than i have experienced with this recording of The Planets because so much usualy becomes burriedin the total wash. Not so here: the richness & variety of the score is available at all sonic levels.
Majestic stuff.
not impressed - By: Mr. Dc Fowler, 12 Jul 2007 
The style of the presentation of the pieces here could be described as majestic although a trifle slow for my taste. The style isin keeping with its time.
However I have had a number of versions of both works over the years & the dynamics on this rendition must be the worst. Whoever transfered the music from master tape to CD did not make anywhere near the most of the expanded dynamic capabilities available today. I do not mean that the bass should destroy buildings a mile distant or that the treble should cause bats to explodein mid air. But the bass was mushy & upper registers rather swamped by the mid-tone brass.
There was a distinct lack of detailin a number of the movements that make up both works (one example is the undercurrent of bubbling oboes & bassoonin Mercury which is just completely absent). Compare this recording with the astonishing RCA Living Stereo series.
I was left with the aural equivalent of a half-sucked jelly baby. I'm only glad it cost me less than a fiver.
In a league of its own - By: Mark R. Bannister, 14 Jun 2007 Towering, majestic, commanding, bursting with passion & energy, these are thoroughly spirited performances of the Elgar variations & Holst's Planets, sublime recordings that are truly worthy of the EMI Classics logo. Part of their Great Recordings of the Century series, it provides welcome relief for escapees of the Classic FM "pop" culture, for connoisseurs of truly beautiful & complete classical interpretations.
Famous around the world, Elgar's supreme string control & intertwining themes, & Holst's magical woodwind & transcendent strident brass provide monumental templates that many subsequent composers have turned to for inspiration & reference.
These are not just any recordings, they are,in my opinion, the best recordings ever made of these works, & conducted by a legend - Sir Adrian Boult - who met & worked with both Elgar & Holst during his formative years. Boult's masterful control of large orchestra shines unrivalledin these recordings, & will leave you breathlessin awe. You haven't heard The Planets if you haven't heard Boult's dramatic & legendary interpretation.
Awesome, i moshed all night to this - By: Liam Jones, 01 May 2007 At first i thought it was a bit heavy, but by the 2536327st time i'd heard this album i really started to like it. This may seem a bit way out, but i'd compare it to the great works of cannibal corpse & sahwoddy woddy. Immense.
simply the best - By: Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane, 08 Jan 2006 I don't think there is a better CD of English classics than this one. Rob Cowan chose Boult's 'Enigma' as the best available version the last time the work was reviewed on Radio 3's CD Review. It is a performance that manages to balance all the different moods & characters of the musical pictures of Elgar's 'friends pictured within' quite beautifully, & the sound is excellent 1970s analogue. Boult was the first man to conduct 'The Planets' & recorded it five times, & this is probably the best performance & certainly the best recording.
From start to finish it is a joy. I find it amazing that a man who was - what? - well onin his 80s when he made this could produce an interpretation of such energy & poetry, but so it is. An unmissable CD.
