Composer: Gustav Holst
Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Audio CD
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: APE (image+cue)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Size: 209 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: no
The Planets, op.32
1. Mars, the Bringer of War
2. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
3. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
4. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
5. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
6. Uranus, the Magician
7. Neptune, the Mystic
In Turns Rugged And Delicate, This Is The Most Spontaneous And “Real” Studio Recording You’ll Ever Hear!
Listen not to the nattering nabobs of negativism. They criticized Karajan for TOO much perfectionism and smoothness of sound. What do he and the BPO in its most gloriest days give us here? Raw, powerful, energized, swaggering brilliance, with exquisite tenderness where needed and mystical beauty where called for (as only Karajan, a yoga-devotee, could elicit it from an orchestra). This is not prettified — this is the most spontaneous and daring music-making you’ll ever hear in a studio, rather than a live, performance. So what do the nattering nabobs say here? Well, “he’s not perfect, there’re intonation problems, there’re missed notes, blah, blah, blah.” The nabobs will never be satisfied. So be it. Listen for yourself — without prior prejudices — with closed eyes and concentration, and you’ll be transported in a way you’ve never been before. I bought this on LP when it was first released; then on CD in the Karajan Gold Series; and then on MP3 Download. And in each iteration, I have loved it more and more, and above all others. Had Holst been alive when this was recorded, he would have run up to Karajan and his Berlin concertmasters, shook their hands, hugged them, and exclaimed, “This is always how I dreamed it would sound!”