The Planet Suite - Most Audiophile

sorry, learning to edit posts with images :-)

:-)

this is one of many good ones, the orchestra is in top form.



something quite different. excellent.

Cheers Mike. Ordered on Amazon for 1.98

Huw

I've not heard Mike's recommendation, but of those I've heard this is my my favourite.

quote:

Originally posted by 555:
I've not heard Mike's recommendation, but of those I've heard this is my my favourite.

i have this on lp, quite nice. but the chicago brass is in full swing on the levine, and that's something worth hearing at least once :-)

555,

This exact version is £17. There is another version on Amazon for about £4 that includes Star Wars & Close Encounters. have you listened to that version by any chance? Is it as well recorded?

Regards,

Huw

Just bought that Zubin Mehta - Planet Suite on vinyl and rather like it but its my only version at the moment. Must try your version Mike at some point.



Dean..

Hi Huw

I haven't heard that version.
I bought the XRCD24 release on the strength of a very good review,
for both performance & fidelity of recording.
I think the release sold out, hence £17 on Amazon.
If you rummage about on the Internet I think you'll find it cheaper.

Cheers - John

back in the 50s, reiner/chicago redefined what a good brass section should sound like, and the world followed.

it's only gotten better since.

the planets is a brass holiday. the levine/chicago is definitely worth a listen.

and the dynamics on the cd are tremendous.

quote:

...I would also be interested in other suggestions for a novice. I'd like to start off with some well recorded CDs first - as well as good music.

Try Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet.
It's a 'numbers' work, ie a succession of stand alone sections so, although it's lengthy - 2 full CDs, you can pick and choose.
Alternatively, you can let someone else do the picking and choosing for you, on one of the dozens of albums of excerpts (usually arranged into 'suites').
Personal favourite: Cleveland Orchestra conducted Lorin Maazel (Decca 4529702).
The 70s recording is excellent.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Marchant:


Try Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet.

Personal favourite: Cleveland Orchestra conducted Lorin Maazel (Decca 4529702).
The 70s recording is excellent.

sorry i didn't think of this one. it's fantastic - excellent choice.

quote:

the levine/chicago is definitely worth a listen.

More record buying temptation - I've ordered a copy Mike!

quote:

I would also be interested in other suggestions for a novice.

I'm started a similar journey a year or so ago Huw.
If you are lucky George (GFFJ) will pop in with some suggestions.
My current personal favorite is



Koyaanisqatsi by Philip Glass - 1998 re-recording.

There are some good tips in the SHM CD Verdict thread - for example ...

quote:

This morning I received Bach Organ Recital played by Karl Richter on the organ in the Victoria Hall, Geneva in 1955 and just remastered.

I'm not normally given to extreme expressions, but this plays as I type and it's the most awesome recording I've ever heard.

My system's doing things it's never done before - the whole house is shaking from the bass notes; truly astonishing!

For those who know the pieces, the interpretation is wonderful - majestic and very moving.

If you want to know how good SHM-CDs can be, get your hands on this disc. Even if you don't enjoy classical music, by the end of the disc you will...

Hi John,

Had a think about it, did some shopping. Had a look on the net. Decided to get it at £17. Now the cheapest is £44!!

Jeremy,

I have heard some R&J by Prokofiev and do like it. I'll get myself a copy.

Mike,

Got the Firebird too. Less than £2 so thought it was worth a spin!

Thanks,

Huw

highly recommended.

in a completely different vein.

you won't believe it's one person playing. most beautiful violin sound on any recording i have heard.

fireworks!

quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Marchant:

quote:

...I would also be interested in other suggestions for a novice. I'd like to start off with some well recorded CDs first - as well as good music.

Try Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet.
It's a 'numbers' work, ie a succession of stand alone sections so, although it's lengthy - 2 full CDs, you can pick and choose.
Alternatively, you can let someone else do the picking and choosing for you, on one of the dozens of albums of excerpts (usually arranged into 'suites').
Personal favourite: Cleveland Orchestra conducted Lorin Maazel (Decca 4529702).
The 70s recording is excellent.

This is what got me into classical the version I have is on BIS...hybrid Sacd and I think it has it all from the romantic & light to the full on dramatic & dark.






Dean..

I would recommend Carl Orff 'Carmina Burana' ....

The best version has to be ...

Composers : Carl Orff

Conductors : Eugen Jochum

Ensembles : Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus, Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra, Schoneberg Boys Choir

Genres : 20th Century Period, Cantata

Performers : Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gundula Janowitz, Gerhard Stolze

since it was authorized by the composer himself !!

James H.

Here is a picture ....

James,
That is indeed a superb disc.
HuwJ,
Just going back to The Planets, there seems to me to be quite a number of excellent versions.
One of the earliest CDs was Karajan/BPO. The first section, Mars was quite terrifying.
I have 2 versions, Charles Dutoit with the Montreal SO and a version on Naxos, bought because it included the additional "Pluto". Pluto has now of course been downgraded and no longer enjoys Planet ststus, so the Uranus is back as the last to be discovered. Both versions are performed well, with excellent sound.
Interestingly (to me, at least) is that Uranus was dicovered by William Herschell, who was also a musician, teacher and composer. I have a Chandos disc of some of his symphonies.
In his spare time, Herschell also discovered some comets, made (by hand) the finest telescopes in the world and discovered the infra-red spectrum. Quite a man!
Regards,
Ken

Guys,

Thanks for all the help on this one. I've ordered three of the suggestions so far and will probably look at getting some of the later ones too.

I really appreciate your input.

Regards,

Huw

I am not sure if I am able to post a picture but would recommend [if still available] ...



which is the orchestral version and the origanal piano version.

Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition

Artist: BERMAN/KARAJAN/BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER

Label : Eloquence

James H.

Hello HuwJ,

Also think of some Beethoven symphonies



and the greatest work of the 20th century



James H.

For a very fine, and very late analogue recording I would suggest the 1978 recording of this with the LPO and Sir Adrian Boult.

This was Boult's fifth recording and yet at about ninety years of age he still obtained tremendous results. Perhaps it does not shade his 1944 [might be 1945] recording done in Bedford with the BBC SO and that was also an audiophile recording for its time. That has tremendous bite and energy as well a sense of the serene ...

Boult gave the first performances of it as the movements came out, and remained a tireless advocate of the music.

Though the 1978 recording was his farewell to the studio it is no apology of a performance and has some very special things, not the least a real swing [almost Jazzy] to Jupiter, a massive momentum [and dynamic] to Mars, and the later movements have a quality that has to be encountered to be believed. Mercury is as puckish as if it were a thirty year old on the podium. An amazing achivement ...

Available on EMI Great Recordings Of The Century.

As a footnote Boult seems to have been the only conductor to make recordings in each of these types of recording technique: the acoustic method, the electrical direct cut, the magnetic tape method and in the end the digital. At the Planets sessions a digital recorder was used, but the subsequent issue was based on the analogue tapings.

Most of all Boult brings a unique insight to the musical aspects, and EMI provide a recording from their top draw to add to the attractiveness of it.

ATB from George