Excellent! The better of two versions by Karajan.
Woodland Poet | 06/14/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First off, this version of The Planets is sonically superior to the other release that contains The Enigma Variations by Elgar. Secondly, I also think this performance and interpretation is much superior to Karajans 1981 release of The Planets with the Berlin Philharmonic almost 20 years later. So if you are a Karajan fan, you might want to opt for this disc. If you don't have this one, but have the other, I think you will greatly appreciate hearing the difference.
Mars, the Bringer of War, is brutal and menacing in this recording. The timpani strokes are sharp and pronounced and the brass playing is very bold. There is something nightmarish about the whole thing. It's very good indeed.
Venus, the Bringer of Peace, is in great contrast to Mars of course and demonstrates in my opinion some of Herbert von Karajan's most tender conducting I have ever heard. (Much more than his 1981 recording of The Planets.) There is a sweetness in the strings, and in the violin solo, that are present in no other recording that I have ever heard. This creates a real atmosphere you can lose yourself in.
Mercury is always a difficult movement to rate, but this version serves nicely between Venus and Jupiter.
Jupiter is a nice surprise though. It is truly a bringer of Jollity here as Karajan mixes up tempi nicely. There is some very jaunty playing from the Vienna Philharmonic with music that they must not have been very familiar with (keep in mind that in 1961, The Planets had not been recorded that often and was not all that well known in the German/Austrian region). But they do a great job here navigating the extremely difficult scoring that Jupiter poses. The ending has some of that other-worldly enviroment as the central theme returns in the basses and tubas and swirling strings.
Saturn is the ponderous onset of age. In the middle section Karajan uses some unusual bells, that the liner notes describe as Wagnerian "anvils". Its does sound quite different, and rather eerie too. At the end though, as the there are the usual bells as horns seem to play through the mists and there is something of the feel of a miracle and some mystical closure, rather than fear or doubt. Just my impression of course.
Unranus the Magician is another explosive experience. Karajan always had a way of getting great forces from orchestras and this is a good example of that.
Neptune the Mystic is simply etheral. Holst Planets ends as an unanswered question and this performance has a great mysterious feel about it. As in Venus, the music just seems to swirl about you and finally into darkness. Great piece of music for contemplating the infinite.
Don Juan is always fun to listen to and this is a good performance.
Again, I can't say enough about the remastering here. 1961 seems very new when it is heard in 24 bit digital. The 1961 recorded sound is full, spacious and vibrant. It's great to see, and hear, these older recordings remaining in print and being restored to their full grandeur.
"
Intensity!!
Stephen Chakwin | Norwalk, CT USA | 09/30/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Imogen Holst, the composer's daughter and a fine conductor in her own right pronounced this the finest performance of this piece she had heard. It's easy to understand why.
Mars moves forward with grim force and a kind of nervous energy that can raise goosebumps. The VPO, one of the great orchestras and one of the great opera orchestras, has remarkable tone colors to offer: grim metallic trumpets, heavy trombones, horns like human voices, strings that sing and sting, crushing percussion.
Venus brings cool peace. It seems almost stylized, a kind of art deco sound with rich tone - the VPO sounds like the orchestral distillation of all of the great singers who these players have accompanied - but formal restraint.
Mercury flies along with speed, but also with elegance. You can hear the speed, but not the effort that produced it.
Jupiter is sheer power - Brahmsian (or even Elgarian - what a shame that Karajan never conducted Elgar, his second symphony would have been amazing) in its breadth and nobility - but, for all the power of the concept, this Jupiter moves along. No Falstaff here! The richness, nobility, and sheer naturalness of the big tune - the trio section, if you will - is wonderful, as is the amber-to-gold sound that the normally silvery VPO comes up with for it.
Saturn opens with icy remoteness. A good reminder of the vast range of color that the VPO commanded. The dry to lamenting sound of the first violin entry is like a cry of protest against the clock ticking inexorably in the background. The trombones are ghostly and noble in their procession and the sweeping up of the whole orchestra into the energy is like a gathering of the world into the inevitable progress, with colossal brass chords marking the progress and a huge cry of protest echoed down the orchestra until the starry sky of serene acceptance suddenly appears.
Uranus is brisk and tricky and Neptune remote and evocative.
Don Juan was a Karajan specialty. He recorded it in concert with Concertgebouw in 1943, made his debut with the Philharmonia in a concert that included it in 1948, and made a memorable recording with that ensemble. He also recorded it at least twice later with the Berlin Philharmonic. All of these are memorable recordings, as is this. Karajan was attuned to Richard Strauss as he was to a handful of other composers. This recording has the energy and forward movement that Karajan offered in 1960, at the peak of his early maturity. It also has the unique sound of the VPO, with its sweet strings, tangy winds, and heroic brass (I love the molten sound of the horns in the big call ten minutes in).
Decca's sound is deep and vivid. It's startlingly immediate in this remastering. There's some hiss and a bump from a tape join partway through the big oboe solo in the Strauss - the Holst sounds as if they did it (or at least each planet) in one take like Karajan's amazing second recording of The Rite of Spring.
A wonderful archive of splendid music-making. They don't make conductors or orchestras like this any more.
Karajan's remake of the Holst in Berlin is also fine, but this one is more lively and immediate. Don Juan sounds like a great opera here.
Well worth the price, though if you can find the Decca box with 9 discs of Karajan in Vienna, that's even better."
The Best Stuff may be the Old Stuff
Gordon Wong | 10/16/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"How can you say anything negative about Host The Planets. But, as a music layman, when it came to "Neptune", I always pressed the skip button on my remote. To me, it is just 7 minutes of a wind chime in the distance. What were you thinking, Gustov? Having heard other versions of the "Planets", I think this is truly one of, if not, the best version. The sound quality is also excellent. I was even tempted to let "Neptune" play all the way through."
