49. Sir Georg Solti, London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1978

Holst - The Planets (Solti, London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1978)

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This one’s easy to describe: Very ordinary.

Nothing really sticks out with Georg’s Planets. There’s nothing here that would prompt critics to say things like “Sir Georg does [insert Planets moment here] so well”, or “Sir Georg’s [insert another Planets moment here] is far ahead of the competition” etc. There’s none of that here.

Solti’s Planets is perfectly acceptable. (How’s that for damning with faint praise?)

Trivia: At 4:41 in “Mars” a trumpeter fluffs a note, and it sounds like a “meow”. From now on I want to call this The Cat Planets.

More Trivia: Also in “Mars”, this time at 5:43, a horn makes a mess of a note, and it sounds like something’s being strangled. I hope that cat’s OK.

5 thoughts on “49. Sir Georg Solti, London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1978

  1. John R, Lewis III March 27, 2015 / 9:47 am

    I think you really got this one right. I bought the LP of this (a half-speed master, to boot), thinking that with Solti, if not a sensitive reading, it would be a spectacular one. Turns out it was neither, and it’s pretty dull and undistinguished. It’s odd, but some people think this is one of the best versions, but whatever they’re hearing is lost on me.

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    • Peter March 27, 2015 / 6:45 pm

      I’m not entirely sure why the Solti recording is so highly regarded. The only thing I can think of is:

      “Solti!”

      Maybe it’s one of those brand-name things, where the name of the conductor is larger than that of the composer. Hang on…

      Holst - The Planets (Solti)

      Yep.

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  2. wonderboy September 20, 2016 / 5:32 pm

    the favorit of my friend, i think i should also hear it from my HD

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    • Peter September 21, 2016 / 10:09 am

      If you’re a fan of Solti, you may enjoy it. But it’s this recording of The Planets is not typical of his usual work. I don’t know why, but Sir Georg is uncharacteristically sedate in his interpretation. His conducting style is usually so full of beans that whenever I’m listening to him I’m tempted to say “Relax, Georg!”, but not here. This is a puzzlingly subdued Solti.

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  3. Tad March 23, 2020 / 4:11 pm

    I have to state for the record that THIS is my go-to recording for The Planets and I will tell you why. For me personally the success of the overall piece hinges on two movements Jupiter and Saturn. In Jupiter more often than not orchestras get what I refer to as congested especially after the big tune when the orchestra again rises to a resounding crescendo. SO many times the orchestra stalls in this area and to me therefore is NOT satisfying. Here on this disc Solti excels and the building of the orchestra is on point. In Saturn he strikes the right balance of atmospheric and mystery and it is hauntingly beautiful.. I do have to state for the record though that I am a HUGE Solti fan, He along with Celibidache, Steinberg, Monteux, Munch, Giulini and Bernstein are conductors that never fail to envelop me in the music…

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