A Conductor for All Seasons

Started by jwinter, August 06, 2012, 10:17:20 AM

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Lisztianwagner

#20
August 06, 2012, 01:01:26 PM Last Edit: August 06, 2012, 01:03:25 PM by Lisztianwagner
Yeah, he was the last choice someone could expect from me. ;D
"You cannot expect the Form before the Idea, for they will come into being together." - Arnold Schönberg

Sammy

#21
August 06, 2012, 01:55:12 PM
I'd have to choose among Gardiner, Herreweghe, Bohm and Colin Davis.  Since Herreweghe is my favorite Bach conductor, he's my pick.

trung224

#22
August 06, 2012, 07:31:26 PM
 My choices are Karajan, Bernstein and indeed Furtwängler (only for Autro-German repertoire) and perhaps Harnoncourt

Sergeant Rock

#23
August 06, 2012, 11:40:49 PM
Quote from: trung224 on August 06, 2012, 07:31:26 PM
My choices are Karajan, Bernstein and indeed Furtwängler (only for Autro-German repertoire) and perhaps Harnoncourt

Since you can only pick one, who of the four will it be?

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

trung224

#24
August 07, 2012, 04:17:50 AM
 final choice is Karajan  8)

mahler10th

#25
August 07, 2012, 04:27:10 AM
Quote from: trung224 on August 07, 2012, 04:17:50 AM
final choice is Karajan  8)

Me too.   ;D  If Kleiber (Carlos) has a much wider opus, NO QUESTION he would win outright, hands down, knees up and all that.  But his output was so slim.   :'(

mjwal

#26
August 07, 2012, 04:42:27 AM Last Edit: August 07, 2012, 04:49:19 AM by mjwal
It's not clear to me whether opera counts as "orchestral" or not. To do without operatic Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Janacek and Berg is inconceivable, but there is no one conductor for all of these on record. As far as orchestral goes, I would like to take Barbirolli: Brahms, Bruckner,Sibelius, Strauß & Strauss,  a lot of great English music...Not much Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Debussy or Ravel - that Eroica is splendid, though. La Mer too...Modern music is quasi-out: who does Ives, Schoenberg, Berg,Bartok, Stravinsky, Messiaen etc as well as the above? Scherchen would be a good choice for a huge repertoire, assuming all his recordings were available, but no Sibelius, Strauss or English music! Perhaps the only conductor who did the great classics and a lot of modern music plus at least a little Sibelius would be Rosbaud - of whom Poulenc said in the 50s that the public assumed Toscanini was the greatest living conductor, whereas musicians all knew it was Rosbaud. Yes, if I could have all the recordings made by Rosbaud - lot of stuff in the German radio archives - I would choose him (just imagine if he had lived to take over the Chicago orchestra!), and just hum a bit of Elgar etc to myself sometimes.
The Violin's Obstinacy

It needs to return to this one note,
not a tune and not a key
but the sound of self it must depart from,
a journey lengthily to go
in a vein it knows will cripple it.
...
Peter Porter

jwinter

#27
August 07, 2012, 04:46:24 AM
After much pondering, I think I may have to go with Haitink.  Szell was my initial gut choice, but I have to agree with Sarge that the repetoire is too narrow.  Giulini seemed like a good fit as well, but again, did he do enough?  I'm not a big opera guy.  Karajan was an obvious choice, but I don't know if I could live with only his approach.  Haitink, as I think someone previously said, would wear better over time, I think.

With Haitink, Symphony-wise I get very good cycles of Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann, plus very fine orchestral Debussy, Strauss, and Stravinsky.  Plus there are some very nice concerto recordings, which Karajan is not strong on. 

There are serious downsides, though.  There's no Bach, but since I have the solo keyboard and chamber music already on the boat, I can live with that.  A more serious bummer, searching around the net, I don't see any late Mozart symphonies or concertos, other than a lone recent #38 -- is it possible that with all of Haitink's recordings, he never did Mozart 35-41?  No Jupiter symphony may yet be a deal-breaker, grrrrr

And then there's Kubelik....  hmmm...
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

George

#28
August 07, 2012, 04:48:19 AM
Because I feel that breadth has taken too much of an influence in people's choices (despite the fact that I guess it should), I have started another thread to find out people's 10 favorite conductors, irrespective of how much they may have recorded:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,20817.msg650321/topicseen.html#msg650321
"It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously." –Oscar Wilde

Sergeant Rock

#29
August 08, 2012, 07:27:34 AM Last Edit: August 08, 2012, 07:31:51 AM by Sergeant Rock
Quote from: Brian on August 06, 2012, 11:57:50 AM
Which... is it not truly incredible that only three conductors have recorded both Sibelius Five and some Janacek?? Even Karajan and Ormandy have no Janacek listed! I'm using ArkivMusic, so maybe I'm missing something, but how is it that Jarvi and Rattle are effectively the only conductors with both Janacek and Sibelius central to their repertoire?

Szell has 2, 4, 7 and En Saga, and he did conduct 3 and the Violin Concerto, too (but no Fifth  :'( ) plus the Janacek Sinfonietta (my favorite version, as you know). But you're right, I think. Not many conduct both composers.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Sergeant Rock

#30
August 08, 2012, 07:33:06 AM
Quote from: trung224 on August 07, 2012, 04:17:50 AM
final choice is Karajan  8)

Good man   ;)

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

jwinter

#31
August 08, 2012, 07:36:51 AM
Thanks for keeping the thread alive, Sarge! 

Personally I find this much more interesting than a simple list of conductors, but I can't stay annoyed at George -- those [sexist pig alert!] boobs [/sexist pig alert!] on his avatar are too distracting!   ;D
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Gurn Blanston

#32
August 08, 2012, 07:42:29 AM
Quote from: jwinter on August 08, 2012, 07:36:51 AM
Thanks for keeping the thread alive, Sarge! 

Personally I find this much more interesting than a simple list of conductors, but I can't stay annoyed at George -- those [sexist pig alert!] boobs [/sexist pig alert!] on his avatar are too distracting!   ;D

The mods prefer a euphemism be used there, Mr Winter. I would suggest 'Golden Bozos'...   0:)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

George

#33
August 08, 2012, 10:15:05 AM
Quote from: jwinter on August 08, 2012, 07:36:51 AM
Thanks for keeping the thread alive, Sarge! 

Personally I find this much more interesting than a simple list of conductors, but I can't stay annoyed at George -- those [sexist pig alert!] boobs [/sexist pig alert!] on his avatar are too distracting!   ;D

It was not my intentioin to annoy, I just have very little experience with conductors and wanted more suggestions.
"It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously." –Oscar Wilde

Sammy

#34
August 08, 2012, 10:42:52 AM
Quote from: jwinter on August 07, 2012, 04:46:24 AM
There are serious downsides, though.  There's no Bach, but since I have the solo keyboard and chamber music already on the boat, I can live with that.  A more serious bummer, searching around the net, I don't see any late Mozart symphonies or concertos, other than a lone recent #38 -- is it possible that with all of Haitink's recordings, he never did Mozart 35-41?  No Jupiter symphony may yet be a deal-breaker, grrrrr

Profil offers a performance of Haitink conducting Mozart's Sym. 38; it's paired with the Bruckner 8th.

jwinter

#35
August 08, 2012, 12:37:59 PM
 Quote from: George on Today at 02:15:05 PM
It was not my intentioin to annoy, I just have very little experience with conductors and wanted more suggestions.
 
I kid, I kid!  :)   :-* :-* :-*
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

jwinter

#36
August 08, 2012, 12:39:00 PM
 Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on Today at 11:42:29 AM
The mods prefer a euphemism be used there, Mr Winter. I would suggest 'Golden Bozos'...   0:)

8)
 
It's a fair cop....  $:)
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
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