Planets Gustav Holst

Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2
Holst - The Planets

The Planets by Holst
When Gustav Holst peered at our solar system at night, he got the inspiration for the grand orchestral work The Planets. It is cosmic, otherworldly and a touch mysterious. Each movement describes the nature of the planets and their influence on humans. For example, Venus is "The bringer of Peace," Uranus "The Magician" and Mars "The bringer of War. The music is impressive, catchy and picture-perfect.

Finnish-Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk initially studied violin at the Moscow Conservatory. He completed that training in Finland where he also became interested in conducting. He studied orchestral conducting at various Finnish music schools with Ilya Musin, Jorma Panula and Esa-Pekka Salonen, among others. From 2005 to 2008 he was chief conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Oulu. He is currently chief conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and the Symphony Orchestra of Lahti, Finland. He is also in great demand as guest conductor of renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has also been a guest of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions. Dima Slobodeniouk is artistic director of the Sibelius Festival.