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Holst's The Planets


ChuckM

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Well, what do you know? I checked with Libby, the LSO's archivist, who confirms that John Williams did indeed conduct the LSO in The Planets at the Barbican in 1982. He conducted two concerts in the Barbican's outdoor Sculpture Court as part of the LSO's summer pops series that year. The concerts included Williams's own film music as well as Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra and Gustav Holst's The Planets. I would be very interested to read Richard's recollections of this 'early' Williams concert.

His first concert with the LSO was at the Royal Albert Hall in February 1978 (when C3PO was famously pictured on the podium), but Williams did not conduct the LSO in concert again between 1982 and 1996.

So there! :lick:

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I checked with Libby, the LSO's archivist, who confirms that John Williams did indeed conduct the LSO in The Planets at the Barbican in 1982.

And there are no recordings from any of these concerts, video or audio, are there? :(

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Personally, I saw no audio, nor video equipment at that concert, but that does not mean that it wasn't recorded...

I did, however, have a very pleasant conversation with Maurice Murphy, about his work with JW.

BTW, I aslo saw/heard JW conduct at the Filmharmonic '86, in January (or possibly February) at the RAH .The bill also included Richard Attenborough, and John Scott conducting.

If Miguel is able to check, I saw/heard JW conduct at the Filmharminic '76. I saw this on TV, (ITV, I think), but I cannot remember the venue.

Did any jwfaners attend any of the 4 concerts at The Barbican in July, 1998?

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The definitive recording of Holst's Planets is Geoffrey Simon conducting the LSO (which I re-downloaded from Amazon). I have the Decca 1971 recording with Zubin Mehta conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and it just can't compare. It's not just the recording quality, but the performers can't just nail Holst's complex and dense movements.

The difference between the Mehta and Simon recordings are night and day.

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The definitive recording of Holst's Planets is Geoffrey Simon conducting the LSO (which I re-downloaded from Amazon).

For me, the best one I've heard so far (and I've heard many) is Charles Dutoit with Montreal Symphony Orchestra, I guess from 1987.

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I actually went to have a look at my The Planets collection and found out I currently have 13 orchestral versions (incl. the one conducted by Holst), 2 versions for two pianos, a version for organ, a version for wind band and the Tomita version! Whew! :D

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]If Miguel is able to check, I saw/heard JW conduct at the Filmharminic '76. I saw this on TV, (ITV, I think), but I cannot remember the venue.

He was guest two times at the great Filmharmonic concert series in London, conducting the National Philharmonic, in 1976 and in 1980:

http://www.jw-collection.de/misc/filmharmonic/film76.htm

http://www.jw-collection.de/misc/filmharmonic/film80.htm

Williams performed live concerts several times in London in the period between late '70s and early '80s. As Omen II reported correctly, the last concert he held was in 1982 before returning more than 10 years later on a couple of occasions--in June 1996 he conducted two concerts with the same set-list (one at the Royal Music Academy and the other one at the Barbican Centre with the LSO), while in July 1998 he conducted the LSO in four concerts with two different programs.

]Did any jwfaners attend any of the 4 concerts at The Barbican in July, 1998?

I was this close from being there, but sadly I had school exams in those same days and I had to cancel the trip. I however repaired the incident ten years later, when I flew to Chicago to see him conducting the CSO in two great concerts :)

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