Quartet Records, in collaboration with Decca Classics and Universal Music Enterprises, presents a remastered CD edition of the unique, fascinating and controversial Bernard Herrmann recording of Gustav Holst’s THE PLANETS.
Recorded during his post-Hollywood period when he was based in London, it was one of several albums he conducted for Decca Records’ Phase Four series, featuring both his own music and that of other composers. THE PLANETS has always been considered something of a cursed album, yet it is loved by his fans for an interpretation that is more Herrmann than Holst.
The recording was not universally acclaimed when it was released. This was in part because several recordings of the work already on the market were considered classics, thus setting a very high bar for new entries. Some listeners, however, found the heavy tread of Herrmann’s “Mars” an actual plus, its mechanistic bombast far more threatening and imposing than the composer’s own recorded performance. Herrmann’s slow trek through the “big tune” in “Jupiter” was more widely criticized, but Herrmann was far from the only conductor who favored slower tempi in the later stages of their career?including in some of the Phase Four recordings of his own music. Nevertheless, Herrmann’s THE PLANETS sold well.
Although reissued several times on LP in the 1970s, Herrmann’s recording of THE PLANETS was only released on CD in Australia in 2011 as part of a Holst compilation on Decca Eloquence.
This new, first-ever solo CD edition has been restored and mastered by Chris Malone from the original master tapes transferred by UME in the UK, and features brilliant, extensive liner notes by classical and film music writer Frank K. DeWald alongside the original LP liner notes by renowned musicologist Harry Halbreich.
ユニークで魅惑的、そして物議を醸したバーナード・ハーマンの録音によるグスタフ・ホルストの「惑星」をリマスターCDでリリース！
トラックリストこの録音は、彼がハリウッド・デビュー後にロンドンを拠点に活動していた時期に録音されたもので、デッカ・レコードのフェイズ・フォー・シリーズのために指揮した数枚のアルバムのうちの1枚で、彼自身の曲と他の作曲家の曲の両方をフィーチャーしている。『THE PLANETS（惑星）』は、常に呪われたアルバムのように思われてきたが、ホルストよりもハーマンらしい解釈でファンに愛されている。
この録音がリリースされたとき、誰もが絶賛したわけではない。それは、すでに発売されていたいくつかの録音が古典とみなされていたため、新規参入のハードルが非常に高かったからでもある。しかし、ハーマンの「マーズ（火星）」の重々しい足取りは、作曲者自身の録音による演奏よりもはるかに脅威的で堂々としており、その機械的な爆音は実際にプラスだと感じたリスナーもいた。「ジュピター（木星）」でのハーマンの“ビッグチューン”での遅いテンポは、より広く批判されたが、キャリアの後期に遅いテンポを好んだ指揮者は、ハーマンだけではなかった。とはいえ、ハーマンの「惑星」はよく売れた。
1970年代に何度かLPで再発されたものの、ハーマンの「惑星」録音は2011年にデッカ・エロクエンスからホルストのコンピレーションの一部としてオーストラリアでCD化されただけだった。
この新しい初の単体CDエディションは、イギリスのUMEによってトランスファーされたオリジナル・マスター・テープからクリス・マローンによって修復・マスタリングされ、著名な音楽学者ハリー・ハルブライヒによるオリジナルLPのライナーノーツに加え、クラシックおよび映画音楽ライターのフランク・K・デワルドによる見事で広範なライナーノーツが掲載されています。
Quartet Records, in collaboration with Decca Classics and Universal Music Enterprises, presents a remastered CD edition of the unique, fascinating and controversial Bernard Herrmann recording of Gustav Holst’s THE PLANETS.
Recorded during his post-Hollywood period when he was based in London, it was one of several albums he conducted for Decca Records’ Phase Four series, featuring both his own music and that of other composers. THE PLANETS has always been considered something of a cursed album, yet it is loved by his fans for an interpretation that is more Herrmann than Holst.
The recording was not universally acclaimed when it was released. This was in part because several recordings of the work already on the market were considered classics, thus setting a very high bar for new entries. Some listeners, however, found the heavy tread of Herrmann’s “Mars” an actual plus, its mechanistic bombast far more threatening and imposing than the composer’s own recorded performance. Herrmann’s slow trek through the “big tune” in “Jupiter” was more widely criticized, but Herrmann was far from the only conductor who favored slower tempi in the later stages of their career?including in some of the Phase Four recordings of his own music. Nevertheless, Herrmann’s THE PLANETS sold well.
Although reissued several times on LP in the 1970s, Herrmann’s recording of THE PLANETS was only released on CD in Australia in 2011 as part of a Holst compilation on Decca Eloquence.
This new, first-ever solo CD edition has been restored and mastered by Chris Malone from the original master tapes transferred by UME in the UK, and features brilliant, extensive liner notes by classical and film music writer Frank K. DeWald alongside the original LP liner notes by renowned musicologist Harry Halbreich.
1. Mars, The Bringer of War (8:43)
2. Venus, The Bringer of Peace (10:04)
3. Mercury, The Winged Messenger (4:34)
4. Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity (9:06)
5. Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age (9:31)
6. Uranus, The Magician (6:54)
7. Neptune, The Mystic (8:11)
Total Disc Time: 57:06