As our understanding of the cosmos expands, so too must performances of The Planets. At least that’s the logic of Sir Simon Rattle with his second recording of this celebrated seven-movement piece (which stops with Neptune). After an energised (and sometimes brawny) traversal of the solar system known to Holst, Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker press on with Colin Matthews’ “Pluto, The Renewer” and a host of contemporary pieces on similar themes—one of the best being Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s grandly alien-sounding “Asteroid 4179 - Toutatis”.
- 2006
- Boston Pops Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Vienna Philharmonic
- London Symphony Orchestra, Nicolai Ghiaurov & Sir Georg Solti
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Daniel Barenboim
- Yoel Levi & The Cleveland Orchestra
- Oslo Philharmonic & Mariss Jansons
- London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis, Barry Tuckwell, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Antonio Pappano & Felix Schmidt