Holst Planets

This latest recording by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director Paavo Järvi features two of the best known orchestral works to come out of England in the twentieth century, Gustav Holst's popular suite for orchestra, “The Planets” and The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten.

Steinberg's tenure at the helm of the Boston Symphony was cut short by illness, but his relatively slim catalogue of recordings with the orchestra produced several important examples of his art, boasting truly fine interpretations and spectacular playing. These orchestral showpieces by Strauss and Holst were long overdue for reissue. Steinberg's fast tempos make the Strauss work zip by; it's as if he takes it in one big gulp, creating as exciting a performance as you're likely to hear.

The Planets, composed between 1914 and 1916, is a suite of seven movements. Holst's starting point for the music was the astrological character of each planet, though his interest in astrology went no deeper than its musical suggestiveness…

That The Planets occupies a place at the heart of the English musical repertoire is indisputable, yet much of Holst’s orchestral output is unjustly neglected. Chandos’ series demonstrates that Holst was a composer whose inventiveness and originality was not limited to one work. The series was originally to be conducted by Richard Hickox who sadly passed away in 2009 after completing Volume 1, released to great critical acclaim. Gramophone stated that ‘Richard Hickox’s final project, reviving little-known Holst works, is a triumph’.

It is striking that two of the true classics in English orchestral music were composed within the short space of some fifteen years around the turn of the previous century. Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations have charmed as well as fascinated listeners since the first performance in 1899. In 14 remarkably diverse variations Elgar demonstrates his compositional mastery while creating miniature portraits of his closest friends, as well as of his wife and himself. By turns gentle, idyllic, tempestuous and boisterous, the pieces – which often run seamlessly into each other – nevertheless make up a coherent whole, like a group portrait taken during a country weekend.

The idea of John Eliot Gardiner not only doing Holst's The Planets, but doing it so effectively, shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering his broad musical culture and the success he has always had with large-scale works. His interpretation is quite reminiscent of Sir Adrian Boult's mid-'60s account with the same orchestra (then called the New Philharmonia)–tasteful yet full of character, impeccably played, energetic, fresh. On top of that, the recording is breathtaking. There is extraordinary inner detail, with string tone that is natural (as is the timbre of winds and high percussion) and an astonishing amount of weight in the bass. The coupling, Percy Grainger's The Warriors, is a wonderfully erudite touch–just what we should expect from Gardiner–and a romp for him and the orchestra.

The precise moment that Holst's career hit its apogee can be fixed in history as October 7, 1925, the day his Choral Symphony, setting texts by Keats, was premiered in Leeds. Since the public premiere of The Planets in 1920, Holst had been England's most popular living composer. He was mobbed by his fans at the premiere, but its repeat in London with the same performers three weeks later bored critics and put the audience to sleep. From that moment, Holst's career started to slide and he was soon eclipsed by William Walton as England's most popular living composer.

Ozawa's interpretation of The Planets is assuredly not in the Boult tradition, but brings a fresh approach to Holst's sole excursion into extravagance. Tempos are not those to which we are accustomed: ''Mars'' brings war at record speed and ''Mercury'' is more leisurely winged messenger than usual. Both ''Venus'' and ''Jupiter'' are presented more conventionally and are finely played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ozawa misses some of the tenor of ''Saturn'', seeming to treat it more as an exercise in sonorities, but is exhilarating in ''Uranus'', where the timpanist has a field day.

Tasmin Little's 2013 release on Chandos is an exploration of lush and lyrical music for violin and orchestra, composed by the leading British composers of the early 20th century, and it is an album of remarkable depth and beauty. Opening the program is the Concerto for violin & orchestra by E.J. Moeran, which sets the mood for the disc with its long-breathed, melancholy lines and pastoral atmosphere. While this is a technically challenging work that shows Little to her best advantage as a virtuoso, listeners may come away from the piece recalling its sweet ambience more than its flashiness. The same could also be said for Frederick Delius' Légende, Gustav Holst's A Song of the Night, and Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, all three of which provide tests for the violinist's skills, yet are filled with such gorgeous music that listeners may only remember the general opulence of the scores. Also included are premiere recordings of Roger Turner's arrangements of Edward Elgar's Chanson de matin, Chanson de nuit, and Salut d'amour, which in orchestration, mood, and style fit the rest of the album nicely.