IIRC the cycle was on a budget label (or budget labels) in the U.S. I don’t recall Readers’ Digest though.
If you want an unusual, but impressive, LP of the"Planets’, you could do a lot worse than Karajan’s first recording with the Vienna Philharmonic in the late 1950s or early1960s. This recording was originally made by the Decca recording team who were recording Georg Solti’s ‘Ring’ at the time, also in Vienna.
The recording has migrated to an independent label (lapse of copyright, I assume) at upper mid-price.
Please do not make the mistake of buying Karajan’s early digital remake for DGG with his Berlin PO, which has truly awful, very early digital’ haze.
I see. As I’m in the states, I don’t see a lot of that stuff. We’ve had our own budget and record club labels (like Angel, and non-FFRR U.S. pressed London records, Vanguard, and others).
My father collected Musical Heritage Society [club] records. I have them now. Most are garbage because he sprayed them with some so-called anti-static treatment that is like glue now (in some cases literally, because I cannot seperate the sleeves from the record). I have managed to restore a few with a half hour in the Kirmuss ultrasonic, but they are mostly not better than just OK. Most are licensed represses from Erato, Telefunken, EMI, and so on.
Nigel Kennedy’s first ever recording was a magnificent account of Edgar’s beautiful Violin Concerto on the Classics for Pleasure label. EMI obvious twigged that they had a winner, so it was promoted to a full-price EMI issue when it came out on CD - I have a copy of that Japanese-pressed high quality CD.
‘Kennedy’ (as he then liked to be known, usually pictured wearing an Aston Villa football shirt) recorded a remake of the Elgar with Simon Rattle and the CBSO, but it’s no match for his first effort.
I’ll consider that.
FWIW: my two other copies are
Mehta/LA Phil on Decca (Speakers Corner)
Previ/LSO on EMI (HiQ Supercuts reissue)
Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique is another one of those I like seeking out on vinyl now and then. I haven’t decided on a favorite yet, although I often reach for Argenta/Paris Conservatoire on Decca. I have four others.
Stéphane Denève (was mentored by Solti) is our SLSO conductor. He did a concert before his first season contract of Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique and it was really outstanding. I’m glad I was able to hear it live done so well.
Giving that one a listen now.
Thanks for the suggestion 
@anon70766008 do I have the right one?
It doesn’t seem right to me somehow. The timing doesn’t appear to be as one might expect and it seems shrill and without depth.
Only halfway through Mars and so far not wild about it🤔
…and as you know I am a big fan of both the Orchestra and Conductor🤷🏻♂️
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QS, I don’t recognise that cover art. Let me have a look for the one I bought new, just a few weeks ago (which I haven’t even listened to yet).
PS I can’t put my hands on it, but I have completely overdone LP buying since I got out of the dreadful care home some months ago. I’ll post again when I have found it. I do remember, though, that it has migrated from its original Decca label.
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Right, I have checked. The LP is issued by Vinyl Passion, pressed in Holland, and is (unusually, these days) a DMM pressing. Cost is £17.88 on Amazon UK, which is a bit of a bargain, I think, if the pressing is any good - I haven’t played my new copy yet.
(I have no idea who Vinyl Passion are - I have never come across that name before.)
I think that Coin Davis was the best recent Berlioz conductor of recent years, the spiritual heir to Beecham. He made a number of recordings (four or five?) of the ‘Symphony Fantastique’, of which the best, I think, is a 1974(?) Philips pre-digital account with the marvellous Concertgebouw orchestra. He went on to make a great digital recording a few years later with the Vienna Philharmonic.
I would avoid his last, a LSO Live release, which has screechy sound, a no-no in this of all symphonies, surely?
I haven’t checked on the current availability of any of these, but if you can find the Amsterdam and/or Vienna recordings, you’re in for a treat!
Incidentally, Beecham’s own EMI recording of the piece, with a Paris orchestra, is special too.
Thank you, I’ve wondered about that one for years. Have you listened to it?
Played it once years ago. Dont recall what I thought of it but the fact I never played it again possibly speaks volumes! It’s sat on the shelf ever since - a curio, which I’ll play again over the weekend.
Do let us know what you think. I have no great urge to buy a copy, unless it has something special going for it.
Wilco. Rather than further corrupt the Classical thread, I’ll post on The Doors thread… I’d be surprised if I found it great, tbh. We’ll see.
Elgar’s Violin Concerto has been lucky on record, right from the very early Sammons version with Henry Wood, better than the famous Menuhin/Elgar for me, and I agree Kennedy’s stands out even in that august company. However, I put that down at least as much to the hugely under appreciated conductor, Vernon Handley, whose conducting of Elgar, in particular, was unequalled in its flexibility and sensitivity IMO.
Roger
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Yes, Tod Handley never seemed to get the recognition that he surely deserved. Not flashy enough, perhaps?
Another, perhaps surprising, recommendation for the Edgar Violin Concerto is Pinchas Zukerman on CBS, with his childhood friend Daniel Barenboim conducting the LPO.
Lovely playing and recording. I found a new copy for sale recently, and grabbed it.
The whole Beethoven symphony cycle has recently been re-released in a DG bargain box on CDs. Definitely worth a listen:
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Thank you.
I have that Davis/Concertgebouw on Philips you recommend. I need to revisit again.
The others I have are
- Karajan/Berliner on DG
- Freccia/Royal Phil (a Chesky reissue) , with a note I made that the finale is great
- Mitropoulos/NYP on Columbia
Plus the Argenta I mentioned earlier