The second version I have of this work (the earlier version is by Seji Osawa, who has sadly died earlier this year). As I’ve written in that earlier post, The planets consists of a series of short orchestral sketches, each describing the traditional values astrology ascribes to the planets that were known at that time.
The opener, Mars, is written like almost vulgar brutality: World War I has just started. By contrast, Venus brings peace. Mercury adds a flying motion by constantly switching chords, followed by the bringer of joy that is Jupiter. This is maybe the best known melody from the whole work. Saturn bring the old age, in a strong march. Uranus is like a wizard and the suite ends with a choir in a slow diminuendo, slowly disappearing in the distance.
In comparison I would recommend the Osawa recording.