Charles Dutoit conducting the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
This is a wonderful orchestral suite written in the years 1914-1916. Coming in at the end of the Romantic Era, Holst had a knack for writing (or adapting) beautiful melodies. This is music you can hum along to. If you grew up on Star Wars music like I did, you might listen to this suite and think that Holst ripped off John Williams' scores to those movies. Obviously, it was the other way around: Holst heavily influenced Williams and, by extension, hundreds of movie scores.
This suite, especially the Mars and Jupiter movements, is very popular in the advertising world, right up there with Orff's Carmina Burana and the Mozart Requiem. Arrangements for marching bands/drum corps and '70s prog-rock bands are popular as well. I understand that Holst also wrote a two piano arrangement of the suite. I'd like to hear that.
Released 25 years ago, this recording still enters conversations about the best interpretation of this suite. The playing is clear and the conductor confident in his reading. The recording production is warm and clear, with just the right amount of dynamic contrast. I listened for some nits to pick, but couldn't really find any.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I heard this music quite a bit in college and think I bought the CD when I was in college or very soon thereafter. The fact that I heard it so much back then (and its ubiquitous presence in advertising) explains the fact that I rarely pull out this disc.
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