Search - Gustav Holst, Colin [Composer] Matthews, Owain Arwel Hughes :: Holst: The Planets; Somerset Rhapsody; Matthews: Pluto

OK...but not Stellar

Samuel Stephens | TN, USA | 08/28/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This 'Planets' won't make you barf, squirm, or faint...but neither will it satisfy. It lacks the bigness that you want in The Planets, opulence and sweep.

This does not mean that if you randomly find this cd cheap, which is likely, that you will dislike it. But, considering the fact that there are so many other top-notch Planets performances out there, this one just doesn't get the job done.

But there's this: this performance pulls itself up as an option because it includes "Pluto, the Renewer"...an epilogue to Holst's creation by british composer Colin Matthews. It works, it sounds Holstian, it sounds like a 'Planet'...but it isn't terribly interesting.

Also included is a nice performance of "A Somerset Rhapsody"...for the Planets this isn't that great, but considering that it is the cheapest performance available of the curiousity "Pluto", then I would get it for that."