Greatest living conductor?

[karlhenning]

Wow, i don't find any of these conductors to be particularly exiting

Gets my vote for most expressive omission of the letter c.

[Clever Hans]

Harnoncourt by a country mile.

[Bulldog]

Wow, i don't find any of these conductors to be particularly exiting, though some of them occasionally manage to reach greatness (I.E, Harnoncourt's paris symphonies). Disappointing.

Which conductors are at the top of your list?

[Bulldog]

Of the options given, I'm most in tune with Colin Davis and Barenboim. Davis is great in Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Tippet, Britten. Barenboim excels in the core 19th, early 20th century Germanic repertoire, including Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, my personal trinity. I'll go with Danny boy.

Sarge

I also would go with Davis, especially for his Berlioz and Haydn.  If Gardiner was on the list, he would get my vote.

[DarkAngel]

All the Harnoncort voters...........

Although I usually enjoy his work he is too specialized in baroque/classical and German/Central Europe composers to be seriously considered greatest living conductor, orchestral work does not include any major performances of composers beyond @1890 compared to Abbado, Haitink etc

His opera portfolio is very small with only Mozart or earlier works at this time

What am I missing, how is he greatest living conductor?

[Mirror Image]

One important aspect to conducting that isn't really being mentioned here is the orchestra-building aspect. Though it's not necessarily so easy to assess this, leaving an orchestra in better shape than you found it is surely a key aspect in being a great conductor.

This aspect is something that played into my voting for Simon Rattle. I think if it hadn't been for him than the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra wouldn't be as highly regarded as it is today. Regardless of what his detractors say, you don't become principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic by sitting on your ass and not doing anything. He deserves his success and he worked hard for it.

[Beetzart]

All the Harnoncort voters...........

Although I usually enjoy his work he is too specialized in baroque/classical and German/Central Europe composers to be seriously considered greatest living conductor, orchestral work does not include any major performances of composers beyond @1890 compared to Abbado, Haitink etc

For me, Harnoncourt always inscribes some ugliness to the music he performs! I've recently heard his much appraised recording of Beethoven's overtures; although he gives them some kind of power they deserve, they lack spirit and depth in emotion. Slow passages are dull; the tutti is harsh!!!

Listen to his Brandenburg Concerti; how ugly they are!!!!!!!!

However, I have to admit that I enjoy his recording of Haydn's Paris Symphonies.

[Superhorn]

   I've never believed in the "greatest" conductor ,or pianist,violinist,singer,composer etc. There's no such thing.
   There are so many great conductors,living and dead,and quite a few very promising young ones who have the potential to achieve greatness. 
   We tend to equate the greatest with the most famous,and this is not necessarily the case.
 
  Among the greatest deceased are: Furtwangler,Toscanini, Walter,Klemperer,Monteux, Karajan,Solti, Bohm, Knappertsbusch,
Monteux, Talich, Jochum, Reiner, Koussevitzky, Beecham, Munch,
DeSabata, Szell,Barbirolli, Stokowski, Ormandy, Mravinsky,Tennstedt,Mackerras,
Steinberg, Kubelik, Carlos and Erich Kleiber, Ansermet, Horenstein,
Kempe, Boult,Celibidache,Dorati,Weingartner,etc,(I'm sure I've left some out).

Among the living: Abbado, Boulez,Haitink, Dutoit,Gergiev, Neeme Jarvi, Jansons, Sawallsich,Sanderling,(the elder), Barenboim, Levine,
Muti,Rattle,Cahilly,Masur,Mehta,Maazel,Ozawa,Previn,Dohnanyi,
Muti,Colin Davis,Thomas,Harnoncourt, Nagano,Thielemann,
Blomstedt,Gielen,Gardiner, Janowski, Slatkin, Temirkanov,Vanska,
etc. (Again,I've no doubt left some out.)

[Verena]

For me, Harnoncourt always inscribes some ugliness to the music he performs! I've recently heard his much appraised recording of Beethoven's overtures; although he gives them some kind of power they deserve, they lack spirit and depth in emotion. Slow passages are dull; the tutti is harsh!!!

Listen to his Brandenburg Concerti; how ugly they are!!!!!!!!

However, I have to admit that I enjoy his recording of Haydn's Paris Symphonies.

Could not agree more. His Bach Brandenburgs also strike me as downright ugly, topped however by his Handel ...
There is a single exception. For some reason, I like Harnoncourt's Missa Solemnis better than any other recording of that work.

[not edward]

I really enjoy & admire Abbado for some of the repetoire he tackled and managed to pull off mostly well in recordings... the 2nd Viennese School, Ligeti, Nono, Boulez, Stockhausen, Kurtág, Rihm .... even Xenakis ...

Agreed, his Lontano is still my favourite recording of my favourite orchestral Ligeti work.

On the demerit side, I really think his Gruppen should have been strangled at birth. It has (in my opinion) a lot of balance issues and nothing like the cumulative effect of the '60s recording conducted by Boulez, Maderna and the composer, and while that original recording is far from perfect it isn't the error-strewn mess that this more recent one is.

I know my own opinion of the work skyrocketed when I heard the original recording, even though my copy is on in-none-too-great-condition vinyl.

[Xenophanes]

Which Jurowski, Mikhail or Vladimir?

The Ma Vlast thread reminded me to mention Antoni Wit - I don't think he is the greatest by any stretch (I haven't voted yet, am leaning toward Harnoncourt), but I do feel like somebody ought to mention him in this thread. Champion of Penderecki, Lutoslawski, and Karlowicz; able or more than able conductor of the high romantics (Strauss, Smetana, Dvorak, others); and he did pretty well by Weber in a recent disc too. His way with Schumann roused critics into a kerfuffle. Next year's release of a Janacek album - Glagolitic Mass and Sinfonietta, two works for which I very heavily favor Czechs like Ancerl - will be a major test. The man's main limitation is his modesty of ambition; he doesn't seem particularly willing to leave Poland and take more high-profile concert environs by storm.

Anyhow, leaning towards Harnoncourt, but Abbado is making me think. Barenboim too. Boulez three - just for the glorious DG Ravel!

I have to agree that Antoni Wit is a great conductor. Unfortunately, I don't have very many of his recordings so I couldn't say whether he is a candidate for a 'greatest conductor' list.  His recording of Smetana's Ma Vlast is as good as any I have heard and I love his recordings of the Schumann symphonies.

I am not sure there is a 'greatest conductor.' There are many who have done some things better than practically everyone else (there are seldom any 'greatest' recordings, either!) and I think Antoni Wit is one of them. 

[mc ukrneal]

If we had a set of criteria and weights we agreed on, this would be easy.

Personally. I look at this a bit differently: Which conducters make me want to go listen to their concert? That is, which conductor, just by seeing his name there, makes me want to consider going to a concert they are conducting? Rightly or wrongly, there are only three that currently have that 'attraction'. They are (in no order): Abbado, Gergiev and Levine. That is, knowing only the time period of the pieces (or perhaps the composers, but not the names of the pieces) and not knowing the orchestra, I would want to see these guys conduct.

[vandermolen]

Which Jurowski, Mikhail or Vladimir?

Vladimir - also a vote for Rozhdestvensky (why is is Prokofiev Symphony No 5 not on CD - best version I ever heard).

[Verena]

I also would go with Davis, especially for his Berlioz and Haydn.  If Gardiner was on the list, he would get my vote.

IMO Gardiner is a much more interesting conductor than Barenboim, Muti, Masur, and most of the others mentioned in the list. I think much of his Handel is almost unmatched.

[knight66]

Of course the poll has not obtained enough votes to provide hard indications; but I am surprised how low down Boulez is. He brings a creativity born out of his being a composer and a freshness to his repertoire. I like Jarvi, but assume it is the low number of overall votes that puts them on a par with one another, rather than any growing consensus.

I voted Abbado.

Mike

[Mirror Image]

I'm just surprised to see all the votes for Harnoncourt. His conducting isn't quite the spectacle people seem to have made it out to be in my opinion. I own several of his recordings and they didn't do much for me. I'm a huge Bruckner fan and I found his recordings to be decent, but ultimately nothing special.

[mc ukrneal]

Of course the poll has not obtained enough votes to provide hard indications; but I am surprised how low down Boulez is. He brings a creativity born out of his being a composer and a freshness to his repertoire. I like Jarvi, but assume it is the low number of overall votes that puts them on a par with one another, rather than any growing consensus.

I voted Abbado.

Mike

Boulez is too limited in what he comducts, since his recorded output is mostly 20th century (and some late 19th). It doesn't mean he is bad.

[knight66]

Bruce assures me there is a recording of Boulez conducting Handel. I tell him he is hallucinating; but he is no doubt right. One swallow would not make a baroque summer. Yes, his tastes are narrow in comparison with some; but he is able to get us to reevaluate a deal of the work that he takes on. But for sure I would not give him the crown of laurels.

Mike

[Lethevich]

Boulez was added after a lot had already voted - I would imagine he'd be in the top 4 if not.

[DavidRoss]

Of course the poll has not obtained enough votes to provide hard indications; but I am surprised how low down Boulez is. He brings a creativity born out of his being a composer and a freshness to his repertoire. I like Jarvi, but assume it is the low number of overall votes that puts them on a par with one another, rather than any growing consensus.

Boulez was added after a lot had already voted - I would imagine he'd be in the top 4 if not.

Word. 

We might get a more accurate GMG participant consensus if each could vote for, say, three candidates..though as much as I like and respect Boulez, I'm still not sure I'd select him among my top three candidates for greatest rather than favorite.  (How tall is he?)  Interesting that the poll originator, karl bohm (whose name is curiously similar to another great conductor, Karl Böhm) chose to add him but none of the other omissions mentioned above.  Just shows how poll results can reflect the questions asked and the answers allowed more than the real opinions of those sampled.