Greatest living conductor?

[Drasko]

I guess one conclusion is: graft Harnoncourt and Boulez together, and you will have the perfect conductor with the perfect range of repertoire?

Quickly, before one of them dies.

[Renfield]

Well, I voted for Harnoncourt, even though I felt I shouldn't just because he does what he does so well.  But I think ability to present modern/contemporary music to the public is important.

That's a fair point. Although, one might consider his work in (re)presenting older music and performing traditions to the public to be an equivalent contribution - especially in light of his work in educating young musicians through the COE.

I guess one conclusion is: graft Harnoncourt and Boulez together, and you will have the perfect conductor with the perfect range of repertoire?

Quickly, before one of them dies.

[Scarpia]

Harnoncourt and Boulez have one thing in common.  THey rarely smile, and when they do it is generally a mistake.

[Philoctetes]

Harnoncourt and Boulez have one thing in common.  THey rarely smile, and when they do it is generally a mistake.

Dude, it's because this is serious business. Classical music is serious. So you have to be serious.

Unlike fucking Baloo in this clip, who just didn't get how serious classical music was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REKCxUm7SHQ

[Renfield]

LOL!

[greg]

I think Harnoncourt is going to need to check his pants.

[Renfield]

I think "mistake" was an understatement.

[DavidRoss]

I think Harnoncourt is going to need to check his pants.

Hah!

And they're coming into the homestretch, Abbado & Harnoncourt neck and neck out in front, with Haitink making a strong bid on the rail....

[Superhorn]

  For sheer breadth and variety of repertoire , it's difficult to think of any one who can surpass Neeme Jarvi,a conductor who is easy to underrate and dismiss.
  He has done so much to perform and record interesting works outside the mainstream repertoire,and for this alone,he has put the world of classical music in his debt. And his performances usually have great panache and color.
  Thanks to Jarvi, we have been able to hear music by Eduard Tubin,
Wilhelm Stenhammar,George Whitefield Chadwick, William Grant Still, Michael Daugherty, Lepo Sumera, Arvo Part, Maximilian Steinberg,Nikolai Myaskovsky,Nikolai Medtner, Zdenek Fibich,
Hugo Alfven, Mily Balkakirev, Sergei Taneyev, and so many other composers you almost never hear live.
  He has also made recordings of such rarely encountered operas as
Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa, Nielsen's Saul and David, Rachmaninov's Aleko,The Miserly Knight, and Francesca Da Rimini, and the first recording of the only opera by Sibelius, The Maiden in the Tower.
  What would we do without Neeme Jarvi?

[Cato]

  For sheer breadth and variety of repertoire , it's difficult to think of any one who can surpass Neeme Jarvi...
What would we do without Neeme Jarvi?

Have fatter bank accounts?   

I think his recording of Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel was the first one on a CD: eons ago I came across a monaural recording of a French version from the 1950's and always wanted to hear the "proper" Russian version.

I am a little surprised by the weakness of support for Boulez: certainly his DGG Mahler cycle raised him up in my opinion!   0:)

Abbado I understand: I heard him conduct a concert of Schoenberg's  Pelleas und Melisande with the Berlin Philharmonic, and still recall the Kammermusik clarity of the lines and the near anguished hysteria of the climaxes.

On the other hand, Boulez and the Chicago Symphony with the same work (on ERATO) I found to be a wrong-headed mess.   

[karlhenning]

What do we want? Boulez added to the poll!  When do we want it? NOW!

Thank you!  I've now voted.

[karlhenning]

I mean, I might have voted for Abbado on the merits . . . but this reflects my 'voting with my ears' as I've been listening to a boatload of Boulez's recordings.

[Scarpia]

On the other hand, Boulez and the Chicago Symphony with the same work (on ERATO) I found to be a wrong-headed mess.   

I consider that to be the finest recording of Boulez that I have heard, and the finest recording of that work.   

[karlhenning]

Well, heck, you think too little of Bartók's Dance Suite ; )

[Cato]

I mean, I might have voted for Abbado on the merits . . . but this reflects my 'voting with my ears' as I've been listening to a boatload of Boulez's recordings.

Despite my dislike of the afore-mentioned ERATO Schoenberg Pelleas und Melisande I also voted for Boulez.

"Even a genius can have an off day!"  - Wile E. Coyote

[karlhenning]

Reminds me that I need to watch Operation: Rabbit

[jlaurson]

Valery Gergiev Signs Contract With Munich Philharmonic
Valery Gergiev Signs Contract With Munich Philharmonic. Here's why, and what to expect:

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/02/valery-gergiev-signs-contract-with.html

[mahler10th]

Valery Gergiev Signs Contract With Munich Philharmonic
Valery Gergiev Signs Contract With Munich Philharmonic. Here's why, and what to expect:

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/02/valery-gergiev-signs-contract-with.html

This is good news.  The MPO may find themselves playing at a level one expects of a top German 'provincial' Orchestra - but it is my belief that the MPO are already a World Class Orchestra (and have been for some time) , and this is in no way a step down for Gergiev.  If things work out, the MPO will become a stronger and better respected Orchestra on the World stage.

[Lisztianwagner]

I would have voted for Mariss Jansons if he had been included in the list.

Anyway, my choice is certainly Abbado, such a great conductor he is!! I absolutely love his recordings of Beethoven, Prokofiev, Mahler, Mozart, Debussy and Ravel.

[Brian]

The omission I'm most surprised by is Chailly. I voted Abbado over Boulez, Chailly, and Harnoncourt (alphabetically).

The greatest conductors I've seen live are Ashkenazy, Belohlavek, C. Davis, C. Dohnanyi, Dudamel, Dutoit, Elder, apparently (since he's included in this poll) Neeme Jarvi, V. Jurowski, V. Petrenko, and Antoni Wit. Davis and Dohnanyi were having decidedly "off" nights, Jarvi has always put me off, and Elder I didn't think was particularly special. On basis of rapport with orchestra and quality of live results, the two finest conductors I've seen are Charles Dutoit and Antoni Wit. Dutoit's as good in concert as he ever is on CD, and Wit is a kind of old-school Karajan-style conductor I'll probably never see live again, the kind who's drilled his orchestra so well that they have become a part of him, like a single performing organism.