London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult - Holst, The Planets Suite, Op.32 (1954) 24-bit/96kHz

Sir Adrian Boult recorded this work no less than 5 times,this is the second,coming between the 1945 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the 1956 with the Vienna state Opera Orchestra. Overall it seems to work wonderfully well. The balance feels just right: where quite a few recordings give the impression that there are 7 stand-alone mini tone poems, here, there seems a very organic connection from first movement to last. There is no sluggishness anywhere, nor are there overly fast tempi simply for dramatic effect; drama is often pointed up to the degree where we have a distorted,shallow demonstration piece rather than something that works musically.

In this recording, Boult has a spring in his step, giving us a Mars with the mobility of a musical blitzkrieg, and almost frightening 'joie de guerre' rather than the battering ram juggernaut we often hear. Such is the flow of the work that the gentleness of Venus and stark sadness of Saturn are well captured without getting bogged down. Mercury and Uranus have all the respective lightness and bounce you'd want, Jupiter has nobility without sagging, and with Neptune the ethereal journey into infinity is done well.

The fact is, there are going to be at least as many different viewpoints as there are recordings of this wonderful piece, and we all have our favourites. However, this early Boult is something of an historical recording by a man who knew the music backwards,and an orchestra (London Philharmonic masquerading, on some isssues, as the 'Philharmonic Promenade Orch') which played it many times. 'Bedinog' Amazon.co.uk

If you like 'The Planets' and you haven't heard this recording, do give it a try. Don't be put off by the fact that it's mono, just turn up the volume and enjoy this excellent rendition.

Track listing:

01. Mars, the Bringer of War
02. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
03. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
04. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
05. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
06. Uranus, the Magician
07. Neptune, the Mystic.

Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra (London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Leader: Joseph Shadwick
Members of the London Philharmonic Choir
Conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
Recorded 10th - 14th September 1953 at Walthamstow Town Hall, London.

Technicals:

Knosti RCM.
Michell GyroDec full version.
Funk Firm FXR II Tonearm.
Audio Technica AT33PTG/II MC Cartridge.
Harman Kardon HK990 Integrated Amplifier.
Gold Interconnects. E-MU 0204 Audio Interface.
Recording, split and manual de-click with Adobe Audition 3.0.1
Click Repair 3.9.1
Vinyl transfer by son-of-albion, September 2013