Holst: The Planets

Gustav Holst (Composer), Niccolo Paganini (Composer), Geoffrey Simon (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Geoffrey Simon
• Composer: Gustav Holst, Niccolo Paganini
• Audio CD (June 6, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Laserlight
• ASIN: B000001VFR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,692 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this one is an absolute steal, June 30, 2000

By 

Ray Barnes (Surrey, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Holst: The Planets (Audio CD)

Once in a while you get lucky and come across a very good recording for very little money. This Laserlight issue, unlike most of them, features Western musicians, in this case the London Symphony Orchestra under Geoffrey Simon, and regardless of price this is an excellent performance. It has great digital sound, excellent playing, and is well conducted too. The Paganini coupling is perhaps a pretty strange choice, but to be fair it is well done too. In comparison to the Millennium issue with Sir Adrian Boult leading the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, at the same super-budget price range, this performance is absolutely superior in every respect. There is also an excellent budget release of this music, coupled I believe with The Perfect Fool also by Holst, played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which ranks alongside this issue. The documentation is brief, but that should not deter anybody. In comparison to the full or medium priced issues directed by Karajan, Dutoit, Mackerras, Boult (in England), et al, this issue is not quite in the same class, but comes pretty darn close, at one-third the cost. Truly a great buy. Highly recommended.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YOU CAN BE HOLST TO THIS FIND FOR A PITTANCE, November 29, 2000

By 

Melvyn M. Sobel "Melvyn M. Sobel" (Freeport, New York) - See all my reviews

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

Like so many budget CDs, this one would also be suspect, digital or not, because of the label... and the tiny tickling at the back of our craniums that alerts us to probable cause; a person usually has no way to counterbalance the options. Price is the deciding factor. That and our basic judgement and intuition. I used all three and, much to my sheer delight, was rewarded by one of the finest versions of The Planets I've yet heard. Previous performances of choice have been Steinberg, Dutoit, Karajan, Previn, Mackerras, Boult, et. al. These conductors, naturally, have much to say. Naturally, but so does Simon and the LSO at a fraction of the cost. And just so you don't think I'm being simply and altogether pecuniary here, I would venture to say that Laserlight has given the LSO a remarkably-engineered, vivid, totally convincing sound picture. I've never heard such a frightening rendition of "Uranus, The Magician," or been swept away so thoroughly by the martial opening of "Mars, The Bringer of War." Or so mesmerized by "Venus." Or enchanted by "Neptune."

[Running time: 61:01]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Steal by Any Definition of the Word!, August 3, 2008

By 

B. R. Merrick - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

Why pick up a CD of Holst's masterpiece with an unrelated piece by Paganini stuck to the end? I can give you several reasons:

1. Expert engineering on sound.

2. Exceptional interpretation.

3. An all-out perfect performance.

4. IT'S ONLY A FEW CENTS!

5. You can easily ignore the Paganini double-bass triviality by burning the first seven tracks on another CD, or organizing them on your mp3.

6. Hearing the women's chorus in the finale on this CD is the next best thing to hearing it live.

Unless you're a beginner with the classics, you normally avoid Laserlight like the plague. Not this time.