Your Ten Favorite Conductors

[The Raven]

20:
Bernstein   11
Abbado      8
Karajan      8
Kleiber      8   
Harnoncourt   6
Szell      6
Furtwangler   5
Gardiner   5
Giulini      5
Haitink      5
Klemperer   5
Kubelik      5
Mravinsky   5
Barbirolli   4
Bohm      4
Boulez      4
Herreweghe   4
Mackerras   4
Barenboim   3
Celibidache   3
Chailly      3
Jochum      3
Scherchen   3
Sinopoli      3
Solti      3
Walter      3
Wand      3
Ancerl      2
Davis      2   
Dorati      2
Fricsay      2
Gergiev      2
Hogwood   2
Jacobs      2
Kempe      2
Kuijken      2
Maazel      2
Minkowski   2
Reiner      2
Rozhdestvensky   2
Salonen      2
Savall      2
Tennstedt   2
Barshai      1
Beecham   1
Blomstedt   1
Bonynge   1
Boskovsky   1
Bruggen   1
Busch      1
Bychkov   1
Craft      1
Dohnanyi   1
Fennell      1
Fiedler      1
Jansons      1
Jurowski   1
Kletzki      1
Kondrashin   1
Marriner   1
Martinon   1
Mengelberg   1
Mickelthwate   1
Mitropoulos   1
Monteux   1
Munch      1
Nelsons      1
Norrington   1
Petrenko   1
Pinnock      1
Rattle      1
Rosbaud   1
Sanderling   1
Sawallisch   1
Schuricht   1
Stokowski   1
Svetlanov   1
Temirkanov   1
Toscanini   1
van Beinum   1
Wit      1
Zinman      1

[jwinter]

I have to say that I'm surprised by Bernstein being at the top of the list.  I love him -- heck, he's on my own list -- but as some famous critic or other once put it, other than his Mahler there are no composers or major works where he's an obvious top choice (and the Mahler is certainly debatable). 

For me, he's on the list on the strength of his late recordings in Vienna -- say what you like, he definitely puts his stamp on things as a conductor.  The emotion behind his readings is palpable, and one is always reminded that this is Bernstein's Sibelius or Tchaikovsky or whatever, there's no mistaking it for anyone else's.  I suppose that's why I'm drawn to him as a conductor:  he has something unique to say about the music, as did Furtwangler, Toscanini, Celibidache, or Stokowski...

[Todd]

than his Mahler there are no composers or major works where he's an obvious top choice

West Side Story?

I don't know if his CBS Sibelius is first choice, but it could very well be choice 1a.  His DSCH PCs are pretty darned good, too, perhaps another 1a.

[The Raven]

I have to say that I'm surprised by Bernstein being at the top of the list.  I love him -- heck, he's on my own list -- but as some famous critic or other once put it, other than his Mahler there are no composers or major works where he's an obvious top choice (and the Mahler is certainly debatable). 

For me, he's on the list on the strength of his late recordings in Vienna -- say what you like, he definitely puts his stamp on things as a conductor.  The emotion behind his readings is palpable, and one is always reminded that this is Bernstein's Sibelius or Tchaikovsky or whatever, there's no mistaking it for anyone else's.  I suppose that's why I'm drawn to him as a conductor:  he has something unique to say about the music, as did Furtwangler, Toscanini, Celibidache, or Stokowski...

answering for "the greatest" and "your favorite" conductors should be different. i.e. I am a concerto lover so there is no karajan on my list...there are jochum and marriner on it but I don't recall any symphony they've conducted that I'd prefer.

[Sergeant Rock]

....other than his Mahler there are no composers or major works where he's an obvious top choice (and the Mahler is certainly debatable).

Lenny is obviously the top choice in many American works (e.g., Schuman 3, Harris 3, Ives 2, Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, American in Paris). And maybe not obvious to others, but obvious to me    these are top picks, or share the the top, justifying his inclusion on my list:

Bach Piano Concerto D minor with Gould
Beethoven Symphony #3 Eroica (Sony)
Bizet Carmen
Cherubini Medea
Hindemith Symphony E flat
Hindemith Music for Strings and Brass
Holst Planets
Elgar Enigma Variations
Haydn Paris Symphonies
Nielsen Symphony #3
Nielsen Symphony #5
Schumann Symphony #1 (DG)
Shostakovich Symphony #5
Shostakovich Symphony #7
Sibelius Symphony #2 (DG)
Sibelius Symphony #5 (Sony)
Sibelius Pohjola's Daughter
Strauss Der Rosenkavalier
Vaughan Williams Symphony #4
Tchaikovsky Symphony #6 (DG)
Wagner Tristan und Isolde


Sarge

[trung224]

  Well said, Sarge. Your list and Bernstein' Mahler symphonies cycle is the reason I love Bernstein, but I can add Brahms 3 VPO and Tchaikovsky 4 on Sony.  He (especially in the DG days) has unique things to say about music, some are gone to far (Sibelius 2, Brahms 3, Tchaikovsky 6) but IMHO is much more worth than the mainstream, conservative, predictable  performances I have heard nowadays.

[jlaurson]

Obviously I cannot but judge historical (for me, that is) conductors differently from living ones... Thielemann and Gatti probably wouldn't make my list if I only knew recordings of their art.

Part of trying to answer the question to myself is: which conductors are the ones where I instinctively go: "He's recorded XYZ? Wow... must-have!"

1. Fricsay

2. Wand

3. Kubelik



mid-late Chailly

Boulez

Thielemann

Gatti

Robertson

Vanska

Sawallisch

(Dohnanyi)

Nelsons

Karajan


Then there are conductors that I'll lap up in certain repertoire: currently Barenboim in Wagner, or Holliger in Haydn, or back-when Krips in Mozart

[Brian]

Lenny is obviously the top choice in many American works (e.g., Schuman 3, Harris 3, Ives 2, Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, American in Paris). And maybe not obvious to others, but obvious to me    these are top picks, or share the the top, justifying his inclusion on my list:

The thing with Lenny is, when something says Bernstein on it, I can more or less bet it will be good/satisfying. Even really unlikely stuff - I keep telling everyone who will listen to try his Dvorak Seventh, which is a delicious slow-boil reading, and there are probably 20 other unlikely/uncharacteristic pieces that Lenny absolutely rocks.

[Sergeant Rock]

The thing with Lenny is, when something says Bernstein on it, I can more or less bet it will be good/satisfying.

Agree completely.

I keep telling everyone who will listen to try his Dvorak Seventh, which is a delicious slow-boil reading

I don't have that...why don't I have that? Strange. His Dvorak Ninth, too, is supposed to be one of the great ones. Must find.

Sarge

[Leon]

20:
Bernstein   11
Abbado      8
Karajan      8
Kleiber      8   
Harnoncourt   6
Szell      6
Furtwangler   5
Gardiner   5
Giulini      5
Haitink      5
Klemperer   5
Kubelik      5
Mravinsky   5
Barbirolli   4
Bohm      4
Boulez      4
Herreweghe   4
Mackerras   4

Improved top dozen.   

Isn't it a bit strange that Toscanini only has one vote? 

[DavidRoss]

Only ten?!

Living:

Abbado
Blomstedt
Boulez
Brüggen
Fischer
Haitink
Jacobs
Minkowski
Tilson-Thomas
Vänskä

Honorable mention: Pappano, Zinman, Gardiner, Gielen, Salonen, Chailly, Gatti, P. Järvi, Jansons, Previn, Ashkenazy, Gergiev, Harnoncourt, Nagano, Herreweghe, Levine, Dausgaard, Rattle

Dead:

Barbirolli
Berglund
Bernstein
Böhm
Giulini
Klemperer
Kubelik
Mackerras
Sinopoli
Szell

Living or dead:

Tough!

Must include Bernstein and Barbirolli, Abbado, Brüggen, and Jacobs, and then it gets really tough. Klemperer. Kubelik. Sinopoli. Boulez. And Tilson-Thomas.

[DavidRoss]

The thing with Lenny is, when something says Bernstein on it, I can more or less bet it will be good/satisfying. Even really unlikely stuff - I keep telling everyone who will listen to try his Dvorak Seventh, which is a delicious slow-boil reading, and there are probably 20 other unlikely/uncharacteristic pieces that Lenny absolutely rocks.

Yep.

His Dvorak Ninth, too, is supposed to be one of the great ones. Must find.

On the double!

Lenny's my number one all time no doubt about it superb in damned near everything he touched and about as definitive as they get in Sibelius, Mahler, and the Americans.

[George]

Is this a new trend to see things in terms of dead and living performers? I saw some discussion of this on another board a few months back, but nor here until recently. To me, it's always been just performances, not a living or dead thing. I guess if I enjoyed going to see live classical music, it would be different. (maybe that's it?)

[DavidRoss]

Is this a new trend to see things in terms of dead and living performers? I saw some discussion of this on another board a few months back, but nor here until recently. To me, it's always been just performances, not a living or dead thing. I guess if I enjoyed going to see live classical music, it would be different. (maybe that's it?)

Well, yes, I do attend live performances and that does bond me to some performers more than others, especially the local guys whom I see most often (but I'd love MTT even if I knew his work only from recordings). But I also feel it's hardly fair to compare contemporaries whose bodies of work are still in progress with deceased masters whose entire careers   are already known.

BTW, George, I like your new girlfriend. Thanks for sharing!

[Old Listener]

Szell of course. So much done so well.

Walter, Klemperer, Reiner, Monteux.

Fruhbeck de Burgos.  He made a number of great recordings in the 60-early 70s.

Sandor Vegh.  A sure touch for Mozart.

Derek Solomons. His Haydn symphony recordings had HIP sound that fit the music so well.  No. 48 is over the top as a C major Haydn symphony.

Adam Fischer. A godsend when there were fewer choices for lesser known Haydn symphonies.  Still essential for many symphonies.

And dozens of other conductors tied for tenth place.

[jlaurson]

Is this a new trend to see things in terms of dead and living performers? I saw some discussion of this on another board a few months back, but nor here until recently. To me, it's always been just performances, not a living or dead thing. I guess if I enjoyed going to see live classical music, it would be different. (maybe that's it?)

It's the difference between knowing a conductor through performances vs. recordings only. That said, tonight's performance reminded me that I neglected to put Mark Minkowski, my favorite American conductor, in my list above.

[nico1616]

Giulini
Minkowski
Barbirolli
Hickox
Solti
Von Karajan
Mackerras
Abbado
Gardiner
Rousset

[The Raven]

Old Listener, could you reduce your choices from 9 plus dozens to 10 as intended?...or I won't be able to include them in total count

[jlaurson]

1. Fricsay

2. Wand

3. Kubelik

Chailly

Boulez

Thielemann

Gatti

Minkowski

Jacobs

Gardiner

[Rinaldo]

Barbirolli
Fricsay
Dorati
C. Kleiber
Ancerl
Kubelik
Gardiner
Boulez
Hogwood
Bernstein