Andrew Davis's account of The Planets reminds me of Sargent's performance rather than Boult's. He takes both ''Mars'' and ''Saturn'' faster than most other conductors and thereby diminishes the effect of both. His ''Mars'' brings war in almost a jaunty fashion and misses some of the finer points of detail in the scoring, such as the rasp of the muted trumpet three bars before fig. 1 which both Previn (HMV) and Karajan (DG) let us hear. The playing in ''Venus'' is particularly fine, with the strings' mf entry at fig. 2 an impressive moment and excellent solo playing by horn, oboe and clarinet. The solo violinist has a thinner tone than either the LSO's or Berlin Philharmonic's leader. Davis avoids the pitfalls of ''Jupiter'' by strictly observing note-values. The climax of this movement sounds rather congested on both CD and LP, but on the whole the recording quality is high, with a good balance. Previn's recording is extremely fine, though its dynamic levels, especially in CD, sometimes tend to be overpowering. From Karajan, whose LP version is preferable to the CD, we get a penetrating new look at the score and virtuoso playing by the Berliners. It is a stunning performance, still the best available, marred only by the crematorium sound of the organ glissando in ''Uranus''.
For what reason and with what authority Davis substitutes a children's chorus for women's voices to sing the wordless vocalise at the end of ''Neptune'' I am at a loss to say. It is certainly not a success and I hope it does not start a fashion. For one thing it alters the timbre of the music and for a second, the children are no more successful in maintaining pitch than most women's choirs. This atmospheric passage rarely comes off in the performance and Holst was really being too ambitious.
It is preferable to have this work in CD format where there is no break between sides. The brilliance of the Davis and Previn CDs, however, does not outshine the LP versions. I think I would still choose Karajan or Previn in preference to Davis, but the buyer who wants an up-to-the-minute recording will find Davis very acceptable.'