The Planets

Musical purists are likely to howl, but this BBC National Orchestra of Wales performance (under the baton of David Atherton) of Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets (1918) is a bold, decidedly cinematic rendering. The heresy is evident from the opening salvo of the seven piece (eight, including Colin Matthews' 2000 tributary coda, "Pluto: The Renewer") tour of the solar system: as the familiar strains of "Mars: The Bringer of War" begin, we see and hear the war machine in action, from the pre-battle factory work and patriotic poses of soldiers to the post-bombing realities of death and destruction (filmed in 2004, the Iraq War tie-in is unmistakable). What separates this version of The Planets from others is the background noise--from bird cries and rolling oceans waves in "Venus: The Bringer of Peace" to the festival sounds in "Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity"--which isn't muted but rather integrated into the soundtrack, bringing a refreshing sense of relevance to the music. In addition, the visuals are a knockout: the live action/animation mix on "Mercury: The Winged Messenger," looks like a Windows Media Player background on steroids, while the multi-varied skyscapes (including the Northern Lights) in "Uranus: The Magician" nicely match the majesty of the music. The only quibble I have is with the decision to incorporate clips from the Burning Man festival in "Jupiter" (the musical center of the suite, a glorious piece that has inspired a number of Hollywood soundtracks), which features brief nudity that--unfortunately--will remove this from consideration for many junior and senior high school collections. Still, for most audiences, this welcome marriage of sight and sound (man-made and natural), presented on an extra-less disc in LCPM stereo, is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)