Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Jaime Martin conductor
MSO 0003
It is now 25 years since Colin Matthews produced his masterful Pluto, the Renewer to append to Holst’s wondrous score. In his second recording of the main work (2006), Simon Rattle also added four more composers’ essays, denoting a series of Asteroids, and it is only surprising that it has taken so long for another figure to add the last remaining planet in the solar system.
Cheetham Fraillon sets and sings her own words, and does not stray too far from Holst’s own sound-world. This means that her attractive Earth is not grafted on regardless, but truly complements the original, although may be thought to become a little saccharine by the end. Since most readers will surely have at least one recording of The Planets already, how does this disc measure up to the myriad choices available?
Recent scholarship has delved deeper into Holst’s astonishing cosmos and revealed just how revolutionary this score was for its time. It is important that familiarity does not dull the bravura of his conception. The recording quality of this live performance from March 2024 is breathtakingly clear and vivid, and the MSO radiate colours and competence. However, for my money, both Mars and Jupiter (especially the former), lack the last ounce of excitement. Mars is crisp enough, but wants real aggression: a swaying, flailing, out-of-control menace.
The rising horn solo of Venus is magically pure and controlled, the string playing subtle and flexible. The skittering complexities of Mercury are finely negotiated. The outer sections of Jupiter are positive, but more amiable than jolly, the great tune rather too leisurely, so that it does not give the impression of growing out of the sections that surround it.
Matters improve notably with the lumbering Saturn, once again assisted by the crystalline recording, which allows the harp and bells to be clearly heard when they are too often submerged. Uranus sparkles and swaggers with the best of them, and Neptune possesses all the required mystique. The women’s voices of the MSO Chorus are straight and true, with minimal vibrato, although the final fade-out seems to have had some electronic assistance.
The indigenous artwork of the booklet is glorious, and were it not for the fact that the work is so well represented in the catalogue, this new CD would be recommended unreservedly. As it is, Cheetham Fraillon’s Earth is undoubtedly the main selling-point of the issue. Those who wish to investigate it will find plenty to enjoy; but for insight and the sheer panache of the Berlin Philharmonic, Rattle’s second recording is still first choice.
Review by Andrew Plant