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Holst's The Planets on Decca

karma67

karma67

pfm Member
SXL 2305, Holst's The Planets on Decca
iam stunned by this pressing.simply lovely!
does anyone have any other recommendations of equal quality for me dipping my toe into classical please?
 
SXL6000 - Aram Khatchaturian conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, no less, in suites from his ballets Spartacus and Gayaneh.

I know the number off the top of my head, even though I am no longer a record buyer - it's that good.
 
jamie123 said:
SXL 2305, Holst's The Planets on Decca
iam stunned by this pressing.simply lovely!
Click to expand...

I have several versions of the Planets, including Boult's 1967 ASD 2310; it's nice, albeit a trifle noisy, though it looks perfect. I have given it another clean, but I've also ordered the same from Tony/pfm record shop, along with Holst - The Planets, LSO / Sargent, Decca LXT2871. I’m on a bit of a quest to find the best one. I also have The Planets, Steinberg, BSO, DG 2530 102 and a couple of others too.
 
I also seem to have a few versions of the Planets. For Decca, at least on vinyl, with the Planets I prefer Mehta SLX2569 from 1971 over the Karajan SLX2305 from 1962 for sound quality. I also have Solti Decca SLX 6113, that is pretty good. I have Previn on EMI ASD3002 which is a great recording that is on the Absolute Sound HP Super Disk list. For performance I still prefer the Boult ASD2310 overall, that Walton lists above, and my copy is a good pressing.

As Stunsworth says anything on Decca from the 1960's (to early 70's) are usually superbly recorded, but many mint originals on vinyl are really high prices now.

Another Decca I would particularly pick out for both supberb performance and sound is Britten's War Requiem SLX Set 252/3 1963 conducted by Britten. This can still be found quite cheaply on vinyl.
 
Some of those old recordings sound absolutely terrific and are often cheap as chips - with one caveat - the modern taste is often for something played a little faster than was in vogue back then and they can sound a little too pedestrian, I hate to say. One such example that springs to my mind is Mozart clarinet and bassoon concertos Brymer & RPO / Beecham
 
I have a few versions of The Planets. As an astro nerd, it’s one of my favourite orchestra works, though I’m a bit disappointed that the Earth didn’t make the cut. I dunno, maybe that movement was implied.

For sheer sound quality alone, it’s hard to beat Zubin Mehta’s version with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It’s on the Decca label as well, so maybe this is the version Jamie has.

Jamie, do you like chamber music? If so, Janos Starker playing Bach’s Cello Suites on the Mercury label is another stunner sonically. I happen to also like Starker’s interpretation, but the sound quality is amazing. In fact, it was just released again on 45 RPM vinyl, though at the usual nutty prices.

https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/...r_Unaccompanied_Cello_Complete-Vinyl_Box_Sets

It's also available on CD for sensible money.

Joe
 
poco a poco said:
I also have Solti Decca SLX 6113, that is pretty good.
Click to expand...

SXL 6113 is Mahler 1/Solti! A superb sounding record, I have the wide-band deep-groove.

PS I don’t actually remember all this stuff, I just googled it to see if it was the Solti Planets I have, but that is SET 628 from ‘79. I’ve also got the Levine DGG CD which is my goto for this work.
 
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