01. - 07. The Planets. Suite, op.32 [50'27]
Choir of King's College Cambridge, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by James Judd
Denon CO-75076 (recorded December 1991; CD issued 1992)
(digital download; flacs, cover and inlay scans, no booklet)
Recording venue: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London
Recording engineer: Hiroshi Goto; Producer: Takashi Baba
Here is an excellent, if little-known, recording to add to the long list of The Planets here on MIMIC. Although this wouldn't knock any of my top-five at the head of the list, it is unlikely to disappoint in any respect.
The bombs drop effectively in Mars - The bringer of war, Jupiter - the bringer of jollity is not wallowed in and the rhythms in Uranus - the magician are well pointed. The wide dynamic range of the very fine recorded sound does make the clock chimes difficult to hear, though. The Royal Philharmonic playing for James Judd (British, not American as claimed recently in Fanfare Magazine) is outstanding. Judd joins Andrew Davis in his earlier Toronto recording in using boy choristers in Neptune the mystic, which works surprisingly very well.
Download from MEGA.