New versions of The Planets seem to be arriving almost as frequently as those of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I have discussed a couple of really good ones recently. Hilary Davan Wetton's LPO recording for Collins Classics—made in All Saints' Church, Tooting—is in the demonstration dass as a digital recording, with a thrilling sense of spectacle, and the performance is strongly characterized, brilliantly plaved and highly communicative. This remains high on the list of full-price recommendations. Since then, at mid price, Solti's electrifying 1979 analogue recording (Decca) has returned to the catalogue. Some might feel that Solti's fiery intensity is overdone, but the brilliantly projected sound enhances the power of his reading and the tension is consistent. Moreover Decca also offer Boult's vintage recordings of The Perfect Fool ballet suite and Egdon Heath to make this record remarkable value in the budget range. Neither of the two newest constellations shines as brightly as these.
There is certainly no lack of spectacle or impact in the Berlin Philharmonic's playing for Sir Colin Davis. Indeed in ''Mars'', taken menacingly fast, the Berlin heavy brass is overwhelmingly weighty, and the punched rhythmic accents have a barbaric conviction. The reverberant recording gives a larger-than-life body to the orchestra and the strings in ''Venus'' produce a sensuous breadth of tone, while the opening of ''Saturn'' has an opulent languor in its nostalgic melancholy. ''Mercury'', however, bounces along infectiously, with genial high spirits. ''Jupiter'' has striking amplitude—Sir Colin takes the big tune in the middle very grandly and spaciously—and in ''Uranus'' the gallumping brass have an agreeably sumptuous vigour. The balancing of the chorus in ''Neptune'' allows ethereal textures as the music proceeds to its diminuendo, but the mysticism is less telling here than in some performances. The liveliness of the music-making is in no doubt elsewhere, but there is also a certain heaviness of touch (which the resonant sound emphasizes).
The Loughran Planets on CfP simply doesn't compete, I am afraid, even at bargain price. With such a vivid score, the music cannot fail to make an effect, but too often the music-making sounds more like a rehearsal than a real performance—everything is in its place, and tempos are well judged, but this is not an account to sweep you off your feet. Moreover, the remastered recording—notably in ''Mars''—has lost some of its bloomalthough detail is sharper than with the Davis/Philips version, the remastering shows in the overall focus, which is not always quite clean.'