The Planets by Gustav Holst is one of the best-loved pieces of twentieth-century music. Ken Russell has taken a brilliant recording of this work, with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, and illustrated the music with passages from a mass of documentary material. In true Russell style, his view of The Planets is provocative, entertaining and wonderfully watchable.
Elbphiharmonie: Urbanski conducts Holst and Williams
Is this music from »Star Wars« or »E.T.«? Such questions regularly pop up when sections of the »Planets« by Gustav Holst are performed. However, it is the other way around: long before the first »talkies« were ever made, British composer Holst created these effective and visionary pieces that have remained popular ever since. PROGRAM Holst: The Planets; Williams: Soundtrack to Star Wars
Holst, The Planets, op.32
The Philadelphia Orchestra was founded in 1900. Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) stood at its head as principal conductor from 1936 to 1980. Continuing the work of his predecessor Leopold Stokowski, he turned the orchestra into one of the leading ensembles not only of the United States, but of the world. Under his direction, the orchestra became renowned in particular for its performances of late romantic and early 20th-century music.