Search - Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Herbert von Karajan :: Holst: The Planets; Elgar / Karajan, Monteux

Blimey, they've crossed the Channel

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1961 it was unheard of for a non-English conductor to trespass on the sacrd ground of The Planets, but Karajan had been conducting a London orchestra, the Philharmonia, since the late Forties. He even recorded Walton's first Sym. So it's not entirely unreasonable to expect him to venture a performance of this beloved warhorse. Aided by Decca's engineers, who did spectacular work in Vienna throughout the late Fifties and Sixties, Karajan produced a sonic blockbuster, and his interpretation aimed at maximum visceral impact. He also Europeanized the score, so to speak, by eschewing the comfy hominess with which British conductors approached The Planets. The Vienna Phil. plays with luster and power throughout. The sound has dated a little -- the power remains, but the strings are somewhat shrill and the loudest climaxes congested -- but this classic reading has never gone out of the catalog for good reason.



For me, however, the gem on this CD is Monteux's Enigma Variations. What a miracle that a very old French conductor could beat the English at their own game. This is a fresh, alert, constantly imaginative reading, one of Monteux's best accomplishments in his latter years. He was appointed principal conductr of the LSO, so conductor and musicians had a deep rapport. Their affection for him shows in every note.



In all, the fact that Decca has combined two classics on a single mi-price dish comes as a boon to lovers of both works."