Famous Instrumentalists Who Thought They'd Try Conducting...

[Ataraxia]

...And sucked at it. 

Go.

[Sergeant Rock]

...And sucked at it. 

Go.

Well, of the three mentioned in the listening thread, Barenboim is certainly one of today's great conductors. Rostropovich had his moments: for me, his Shostakovich and Prokofiev symphony cycles; Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk; the Tchaikovsky ballet suites; the Romeo & Juliet Suites; Scheherazade. And Ashkenazy has produced superb Rachmaninoff and Sibelius cycles, my favorite Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (with Boris Belkin) and one of my favorite Beethoven Sevenths. I think they are all winners on the podium.

Sarge

[trung224]

 I think except Barenboim, who started conducting when he was young, other instrumentalists-conductor IMHO don't offer so much eccentric and insightful character to the score, which I always think important. Indeed, sometimes they catch fire and we have the very good recording, i.e Rostropovich' Shostakovich 5 or Ashkenazy' Rachmaninov 2, but overall I don't think they are great conductors

[madaboutmahler]

Has anyone seen/heard Znaider conduct yet?

I think Barenboim is a brilliant conductor too. Rostropovich too. And Ashkenazy has made some excellent recordings as conductor, his Rachmaninov for example.

[mc ukrneal]

I hesitate to say sucked, because undoubtedly these world class musicians have a lot to bring to the table (whether details, approach, lines, etc.).

Eschenbach has generally not been my favorite in much of anything (as conductor). But I don't know that I'd say he sucked. But a number of pianists have led smaller groups in various concertos, so they get some experience along the way - that's got to be helpful.

Can we include singers? Domingo tried his hand at it - but I have not seen much of his conducting. I'd imagine he does well with other singers in arias and such (as a conductor).

[Lisztianwagner]

I definitely think Ashkenazy is wonderful both as pianist and as conductor, he made so many beautiful, brillaint recordings, especially of Rachmaninov, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Scriabin; so is also Barenboim, for example his version of Wagner's Ring Cycle is one of the finest I've ever heard.
I appreciate Rostropovich's conducting style, it's pretty good. I will also include Lorin Maazel in the list, he's a great violinist/conductor.

[Feijenoord]

I like Ashkenazy and Rostropovich both as instrumentalists and conductors ! I'm less fond of Barenboim but it is for purely personal reasons, it has nothing to do with his capacity of conducting, he's certainly a very competent musician. These guys are no less conductors that instrumentalists, they are both !

Among instrumentalists who tried to conduct and were not very good, there is Oistrakh, but he was not really a good violinist anyway (I always found him too aggressive, with an ugly sound and no musicality at all, but that's my opinion).

[Brian]

I saw Andras Schiff conducting live, and thought him bizarre. Here were my thoughts at the time on his unorthodox technique.

[Superhorn]

    It's nothing new for famous instrumentalists to have conducting careers . It's a little-known fact that Franz Liszt did quite a lot of conducting, including  the premiere of nothing less than Wagner's Lohengrin .
Rachmaninov was a fine conductor , and  you can hear his only two recordings in that capacity on RCA, leading the Philadelphia orchestra in his 3rs symphony and The Isle of the Dead .
   Joseph Joachim , Eugene Ysaye, Alfred Cortot, David Oistrakh, Anton Rubinstein, were also active as conductors .   

[kishnevi]

There's Menuhin.  I have more recordings of Menuhin conducting than I do of Menuhin playing.  (Although it's not very much). 

Actually, a lot of conductors began as instrument players before moving  up to the podium.  Rattle is an example here.

[eyeresist]

Students who take conducting are usually required to study an instrument as well, as I understand it.

[Sergeant Rock]

There's Menuhin.

He conducted the best, to my ears, Vaughan Williams Fifth. Really opened up that work for me.




Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Eschenbach has generally not been my favorite in much of anything (as conductor).

Of course, Eschenbach. In the last several years, after I discarded my initial skepticism and actually listened to his recordings, he's become one of my favorite current conductors. Love his Mahler, Strauss, Brahms, Bruckner, Zemlinsky. Very individual, even mannered performances, though--I can see why he'd turn many off--but just right for me.

Sarge

[DieNacht]

Casals hasn´t yet been mentioned. Though not first choices, some of his Beethoven & Mozart symphonies are interesting, I think, his Bach more average ...

[zamyrabyrd]

Of course, Eschenbach. In the last several years, after I discarded my initial skepticism and actually listened to his recordings, he's become one of my favorite current conductors.
Sarge

ditto

[Opus106]

[Eschenbach] has become one of my favorite current conductors.

Two physics puns in one evening! I love this place!

Thread Duty, kind of: To throw another name into the hat: Mr. Andrew Preview.

[fridden]

Has anyone seen/heard Znaider conduct yet?

You mean Nikolaj Znaider? I saw him with the Gothenburg Symhony Orchestra doing Mahler 5th symphony last December.
One reviewer wrote:

It's an interpretation that brings out the noisy, excitable and extroverted, but gives little room for the reflective and duplicitous irony of Mahler's music

But I liked it, and thought he did good job. Perhaps I just like my Mahler noisy, excitable and extroverted 

/fridden

[madaboutmahler]

You mean Nikolaj Znaider? I saw him with the Gothenburg Symhony Orchestra doing Mahler 5th symphony last December.
But I liked it, and thought he did good job. Perhaps I just like my Mahler noisy, excitable and extroverted 

/fridden

Great! Thanks for getting back to me on that!
haha

[kishnevi]

Baroque music is full of instrumentalists who turned to conducting, although perhaps here the word "famous" should be meant only in a relative way:  Koopman, Leonhardt, Egarr, Manze, Rene Jacobs being the first ones who pop into my head, although I'm sure there are more.

[Opus106]

Rene Jacobs

Was a singer and, going by popular opinion, sucked at it.