Don Satz wrote:

>Mars, the Bringer of War: "Thumbs off" for Rattle on this one.  He
>sounds more like a negotiator than warmonger.  Most folks want their
>Mars to be bellicose, extremely powerful and possess a wild abandon with
>total disregard for person or property.  Not Rattle, as he prefers to
>give us a subdued Mars who ponders rather than acts.  Rattle's puny sense
>of tension is not acceptable, and his brass are ever so polite.  I've
>generally thought that John Eliot Gardiner's Mars is lacking some tension,
>but Rattle is the "King of Slack" here.  If you want the right measure
>of fireworks, check out Adrian Boult's 8 minute performance. ...

Just a quick note.  Boult recorded this twice on EMI in very different
performances.  I'm pretty sure the one you're referring to is the earlier,
faster, one with, I think, the New Philharmonia.  The later one, one of
his last recordings--and maybe his last--is much slower and more monumental.
My suspicion is that most people like the earlier one, but I've always
favored the later one, though it doesn't possess the excitement of its
predecessor.

Roger Hecht

             ***********************************************
The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R)
list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability
Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery.  For more information,
go to:  http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html