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13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 One of the best recordings of "The Planets", at budget priceAug 25, 2001
By pm444
"pm444"
This was my first recording of "The Planets" when it was issued in the early 1970's on LP. I've been waiting for its re-issue on CD and was pleased to find it at budget price in the Eloquence series. Zubin Mehta brings youthful energy to the music, without going overboard, and the LA Philharmonic plays with style and class. The sound on LP was always excellent, typical of London/Decca engineering, and it sounds just as good in the remastering; there is some marginal tape hiss but nothing intrusive. For this price, it's a performance that's well worth adding to your collection, even if you already have another recording of the piece, just to hear Mehta's reading of the score.
13 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Great Recording! Good Sound for an ADD source!Jul 09, 2006
By Frederick Baptist
Holst's "The Planets" ranks among my favourite classical pieces ever and this version by Mehta and the LA Philharmonic is the best version I've heard. In addition, the sound quality is quite good given the age of the recording and the fact that it comes from an analogue original source and so I can only imagine how much better this would be if it ever gets a remastering job from the best master tapes in Decca's vault.
Another reason why this cd deserves 5 stars is the fact that you get John Williams' "Close Encounters of the Third Kind Suite" and the "Star Wars Main Title" tracks here as well. It's just a stroke of inspiration putting these similarly-themed pieces on one disc.
Probably the best version of "The Planets" overall that you can get out there and at an unbelievably low price. Great value, good sound, great track selections.
Highly recommended.
10 of 12 found the following review helpful:
ExcellentOct 12, 2003
By Sungu Okan
"Can Okan"
At this price, this is a must have, this CD is excellent.This CD were recorded with Surround System. In Home Cinema Systems or a Superb Stereo Systems, this recording can be played with excellent results. As you know, "The Planets" is most famous and Most beatiful work by Holst. Supposing that, this is a film music. This Suite to take form in 7 movements. There isn't a Pluto movement, because, this planet was discovered in 30's (one or two years before Holst's death). And, in 1999, Colin Matthews written a new movement to named "Pluto, The Renewer" addition to suite's last movement "Neptune, The Mystic"...(Recording of this work is avaliable on Naxos conducted by David Lloyd - Jones) And the performance is amazing. Perhaps, this is the best recording of Zubin Mehta with Los Angeles PO. Especially, the brass ensemble is terrific in Mars and Uranus movements. And Offstage Women's Chorus is very impressive in Neptune. Still this movement is very very impressive... Highly recommended.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Off pacedFeb 28, 2009
By Gary Odom
Zubin Mehta's version of the planets suffers somewhat from uneven pace. Mars and Mercury seem a bit rushed. By contrast, Saturn, the bringer of old age, is dramatically effective while being markedly a different pace. At 9:56, it's a bit slow. Previn clocks Saturn at 9:08, Bernstein at 8:53, and Maazel at 8:34. But Mehta is comparable to Karajan and Dutoit in his orbit of Saturn.
The sound is generally bright, and shows considerable detail. The range is a tad much. One ends up twiddling the volume between the soft and loud passages; not good. The difference between drama and volume is one that the sound engineers didn't fully comprehend.
There's bonus tracks of John Williams "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the "Star Wars." Close Encounters is a but a rung above a TV sci-fi theme, but Star Wars, as always, is stirring, and generally well done by Zehta. These themes inclusion makes the point of The Planets impression on Williams as a composer. Worth noting that the sound balance on Star Wars is noticeably better than the Planets.
Overall, a fine presentation, with caveats to pacing and balance.
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
ALMOST A REFERENCE RECORDINGNov 10, 2006
By L. E. Roberts
"Larry"
Very good recording of The Planets. I like it even better than the Sir Alexander Gibson recording, although that was my previous favorite. This piece needs to be played dynamically, and Mehta certainly does that. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a certain amount of bombast and a decent workout for their woofers.
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