Holst: The Planets

Gustav Holst (Composer), James Levine (Conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
• Conductor: James Levine
• Composer: Gustav Holst
• Audio CD (May 10, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GCZ
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,981 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Planets, Op. 32: Mars, The Bringer Of War

2. The Planets, Op. 32: Venus, The Bringer Of Peace

3. The Planets, Op. 32: Mercury, The Winged Messenger

4. The Planets, Op. 32: Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity

5. The Planets, Op. 32: Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age

6. The Planets, Op. 32: Uranus, The Magician

7. The Planets, Op. 32: Neptune, The Mystic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent performance - minor complaint, December 6, 2006

By 

W. Crone "classical junkie" (Northern CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holst: The Planets (Audio CD)

The Planets suite is quite a thing of beauty. This recording made by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of James Levine, is quite good. The powerful, brassy sound other reviewers have spoke of is obvious here and it works perfectly. My only gripe is not really a bad thing. The dynamic range on this disc is tremendous. I often am forced to listen to music at levels which won't get me evicted from my apartment. In doing so, I have found that the piano or pianissimo (or pianississimo) passages are inaudible. It still sounds superb; I just have to crank it up and risk losing my hearing when the brass comes in.

21 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take a mystical astral tour with Holst's The Planets, January 23, 2004

By 

Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holst: The Planets (Audio CD)

Gustav Holst's "The Planets" (Op. 32) is a seven-movement symphonic poem which describes the "personalities" of most of our celestial neighbors in the solar system. Had Pluto been discovered when Holst was composing this wonderful piece in the early 20th Century, there might have been an eighth movement (perhaps called "The Guardian of the Dead"), but the ninth planet was not discovered until 1930, 12 years after its first rehearsal. No matter. One missing planet doesn't take away from the breathtaking wonder of this very powerful composition.

Holst is not literally describing each planet's physical features, for at the turn of the 20th Century there were no Voyager or Viking probes to send back images from which the composer could derive some inspiration, although I would like to think that some NASA engineer was listening to this music while driving to and from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena as one of our mechanical explorers was making its lonely sojourn across the vast and cold expanses of space. No, Holst was going for the planets as astral metaphors, giving each movement a descriptive title ("Mars, the Bringer of War," for instance) and a particular musical "mood" that is totally unconnected to the others.

James Levine (best known as the Metropolitan Opera's music director) leads the magnificent Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus into a mystical musical tour of the heavens, starting with the belligerent allegro "Mars, the Bringer of War." This movement starts with very tense and brooding music that becomes very martial, almost as if Holst had composed it for the score of a great silent epic depicting the then-ongoing Great War. It is a very "modern" piece, with very militaristic tempos that convey discord and strife. It even sounds like a precursor to John Williams' "The Imperial Attack" cue from his score to Star Wars: A New Hope. (If you play the last minute or so of the allegro, then listen to any recording of "The Imperial Attack," you will notice the similarity.)

In sharp contrast to the first movement, Venus, the Bringer of Peace" is a gentle and reflective piece, with lush strings and restrained tones suggesting astral tranquility.

My favorite movement is "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity," with its lively introduction and bright motifs that lead into a "hope and glory" theme which conveys grandeur and pomp, as if composed for a coronation or royal wedding. Holst uses various tempos and variations on themes, building on each musical construct until reaching a triumphal orchestral climax. (Listeners of the old WTMI 93.1 FM classical station in South Florida will recognize the opening bars of "Jupiter" as the musical intro to the news updates in the morning and afternoon.)

Levine and the Chicago Symphony and Chorus perform this multifaceted work brilliantly in this 1990 Deutsche Gramophon recording, and Holst's magnificent mix of orchestral moods takes the listener on an aural equivalent of a Grand Tour of the heavens.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST!!!!!, January 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Holst: The Planets (Audio CD)

Levine's recording of this Holst masterpiece should be a staple in every music collection. Not only does it have the gorgeous sound of some of the world's finest string players, but it also has something that every orchestra at that time envied - the warm, rich, powerfull sound of the Chicago brass section. This combination, along with Levine's exceptional understanding of the piece, makes the recording one of the most energetic, exciting, and engaging ones available today.