Ten favourite conductors...

[Chaszz]

Wagner lovers should consider giving a listen to Karl Muck, who recorded in the late 1920s. Much of his Parsifal Act III is available on CD, and perhaps here and there on the web, and is great, as well as somewhat amazing sonically for 1927. Muck apprenticed at Bayreuth shortly after Wagner's death, and may transmit some of the composer's approach to conducting. In any case, a great listening experience.

[David M]

Perhaps off topic a bit but I was thinking about my favorites among those I have actually seen.

In no particular order:

Andre Previn (great american music, Mozart from the piano, Prokofiev, Rachmaninof)
Lorin Maazel (a Symphonie fantastique I will never forget)
Lenny Bernstein (Firebird, Eroica, Sibelius 2nd)
Zdenek Macal (a Mahler 1 I will never forget)
Pierre Boulez (Schoenberg, Prokofiev)
Maris Jansons (Shostakovich, Beethoven 9th, much more)
Yan Pascal Tortelier
Leonard Slatkin (american music, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev)
Christof Eschenbach (Schumann, contemporary music)
Alan Gilbert

Manfred Honeck, now in Pittsburgh, is quite good and gets great response from his orchestra.

[MishaK]

Manfred Honeck, now in Pittsburgh, is quite good and gets great response from his orchestra.

He's marvellous indeed! All his Mahler recordings with Pitts are amazing. Also this live Mahler 5 on tour in Berlin:

http://vimeo.com/30021669

He did an amazing Dvorak 8 here in Chicago earlier this season.

[Cascade]

Fritz Reiner
Rafael Kubelik
Hebert von Karajan
Christoph von Dohnányi
Otto Klemperer
Andrew Litton
Christopher Hogwood
Charles Mackerras

Those are the ones I can think of right now.

[Sean]

val

I'm working my way though your recommendations, as they appear on the Naxos site- just given the Furtwangler Tristan another listen, full of insights and influential for later recordings particularly the pre-eminent Bohm and Karajan; overall I'll take the Karajan though with the concentration and ruthlessness he found. Moreover Flagstad's articulation and phrasing in Isolde's narration clearly informed Nilsson...

Great Walter performance of Brahms Two, cultivating this richly contrapuntal floating sense of the music leading the way; at times however this does give way to a more driving style and a forceful lack of rubato, characteristic of the times but the conveyance of the music's tremendous richness overall has perhaps indeed never been matched.

I started to play the Fourth but the rushed passages that Karajan was to see through so clearly must have had some of the players wondering what he was doing...

And don't you find Jochum's Bruckner too old style homogeneous without the shaping Karajan brought?

Sean

My ten favourite conductors with their supreme interpretations:

Wilhelm Furtwängler  / Beethoven's 6th & 9th Symphonies / Wagner's Tristan und Isolde / Schumann's Manfred Ouverture

Arturo Toscanini  / Beethoven's 3rd Symphony / Verdi's Requiem & Falstaff

Karl Böhm  / Bruckner's Symphony n. 7 / Strauss "Daphne" / Wagner "The Ring" / Mozart "Cosi fan tutte"

Bruno Walter / Mozart's Symphonies 39, 40 & 41 / Beethoven's Symphony n. 4 / Brahms Symphony n. 2

Eugen Jochum  / Bruckner's Symphonies n. 4, 5, 8 / Bach "Matthäus Passion"

Carlo Maria Giulini  / Brahms Symphony n. 3 / Bruckner's Symphony n. 9 / Mozart's Don Giovanni

Herbert von Karajan / Beethoven's Symphonies 5 & 8 / Mahler's Symphonies 6 & 9 / Sibelius Symphonies 4, 6 & 7

Pierre Monteux  / Beethoven Symphonies 2 & 7 / Ravel "Ma Mère L'Oye", La Valse / Debussy "Images"

Karel Ancerl / Janacek Glagolitic Mass / Dvorak Symphony 9 / Stravinsky "Rite of Spring", Noces, Cantata, Oedipus Rex 

Otto Klemperer / Beethoven's Symphony n. 3, "Fidelio", Missa Solemnis / Brahms "Deutsche Requiem" / Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde

[johnshade]

C Kleiber
Karajan
Bernstein
Solti
Dorati
Reiner
Abbado
Kempe
Gardiner
and
C Davis

[Xenophanes]

It depends a lot on the repertoire. I have been listening to recordings by these recently.

Ernest Ansermet

Rene Leibowitz

Antoni Wit

Bruno Walter

Trevor Pinnock

Fritz Reiner

Antal Dorati

Karl Ristenpart

Georg Solti

Nicholas Ward

[Xenophanes]

I bet this has been done a million times before...but...there is always an ebb and flow to the tide of preference in our music, what we hear one day from one conductor may be the best thing since the invention of the Bassoon, but just a few months later we discover that things weren't quite what we thought.  Much of the time my own preferences are in a state of flux, but there are some conductors who bring the music to me in ways that are evergreen, and I have not a bad word to say about them, even if they did a duffer or two here and there.   

Here is my top ten, in no order and the reasons why.

Carlos Kleiber
The thing about Klieber that amazes me is no matter what he's conducting, from the very first bar you hear music that has always been around you.  It is like he reveals what has always been there, and immediately the music is you.  He was utterly brilliant, and I would have sent him twenty five new Audi motors a year and a million Deutsche Marks a month just to keep him conducting a more expanded repertoire.  Some references:  Beethoven 4, 5, Brahms 2, 4

Otmar Suitner
Probably the most brilliant conductor never to have made the mega bigtime like Karajan, Solti, etc.  There is nothing I've listened to by Suitner that is hopeless.  In fact, you could not get a more precise and at the same time dynamic conductor than Suitner.  It is hard to believe he was not better known than he should have been.  In some ways, his 'soundworld' is like Kliebers - although his conducting 'style' always seems to appear less than precise, the music which comes out is more than you could ever have expected.  Some references:  Dvorak Symphonies, Bruckner 7, 8

Ari Rasilainen
Because he is the foremost champion of my favourite Classical music, that of Swedens yesteryear.  Just have a look at the list of his available recordings, there's a clear bias towards Finland and Scandinavia.  He excites every music that comes his way, and I cannot be thankful enough to him for absoloutely nailing my favourite composer, Kurt Atterberg.  Talking of nailing Atterberg, it was Harry and J. Z. Herrenberg, two Dutchmen, who introduced me to Atterberg in the first place...thanks guys!     Some references:  Atterberg Symphonies, Natanel Berg Symphonies, Aulis Sallinen works.

Wilhelm Furtwängler
Conductor with the strangest on podium movements ever, but with interpretative brilliance which  is utter joy to listen to.  Just a pity recording technology couldn't keep up with him.  If you've not heard or seen (on Youtube, or 'The Great Conductors' DVD) the wartime performance of Beethovens 9th where the final notes are rapped out like machine gun fire, you aint heard nothing yet.

Klaus Tennstedt
He would be a run of the mill conductor if he hadn't embraced and loved the music he conducted.  I can hear mountain-sized love in every note of everything I've heard by him.  His is a big and beautiful style, but it also mirrors a depth of thoughfulness hard to find with other conductors.  Some references:  Beethoven, Mahler, Wagner, all the big names.   

Eliahu Inbal
This conductor, as I keep saying, is a storyteller.  I do not know if it is intentional or not, but his music comes across like an easy narrative. You can read whole books by composers if he is conducting them - by the way the music is performed in a kind of tell-tale fashion.  Maybe such an idea is nonsense, but I hear him that way.  Special mention for his Bruckner and Mahler sets, particular mentions for his Mahler 5 and Bruckner 4 (1874).  Also, his Liszt is great.  I only wish he would come up with some Richard Strauss - he'd probably turn out some real reference editions.

Georg Solti
Known and sometimes berated for his electrifying, 'full on' style, big and brash, this kind of thing.  But...actually...no.  He didn't always blast the hell out of every score that came his way.  Even when he punched you in the face, the old goat gave you a make-it-better kiss at the same time.  I rate him so highly because music went through him...he conducted like silver paper in an electric fire.  Even his expressions on the podium were a gateway to higher things.  And sometimes wild things.  Some references:  Bartok works, Mahler symphonies.

Bernard Haitink
If ever there was a conductor I didn't like, it was poor old Haitink.  Of course, I was misguided, until I bought his Vaughn Williams set.  That really changed things.  I re-listened to much of Haitink after that and came to the conclusion that I was very wrong about him.  I had a similar experience with Vaclav Neumann - both he and Haitink, to me, were nothing special at all and I wondered what all the fuss over Haitink was about.  I didn't even like his Mahler.  But that Vaughn Williams changed me, I have come to better understand what a complete, high end conductor he really is.  Some references:  Vaughn Williams set, Bruckner Symphonies.

Gennady Rozhdestvenski
Here is a conductor with some amazing, less touted stuff.  He brings something to the music which is intrinsically Russian, and you can hear it spidering out into his oeuvre.  I like it.  It is a style all of his own.  He makes you listen.  Some references:  Prokofiev orchestral, less well known Sibelius and Bruckner sets.

Andris Nelsons
In my wee humble opinion, probably the most talented living conductor today, in particular for his Strauss, but I also have loads of live concerts by him.  I plan to see him live when an opportunity presents.  What he can get out of an Orchestra is outstanding in every way, and  I fully expect he will command a World Class Orchestra (Vienna, Berlin, Chicago, whatever...) sooner rather than later.  At the moment he is making as mucvh waves with the CBSO as Rattle did when he was there...and look where Rattle went!  Nelsons brings both power and prestige to Orchestral sound.  You only need one recommendation here - for a full picture of what he does and what he can do, listen to his Alpine Symphony with the CBSO.  After hearing it, persons will have to carry you around in a stretcher for a week or two...

Suitner is a name you don't hear very often. He evidently recorded the first Beethoven symphony cycle on CD, and I have it. It is a good cycle with some outstanding performances, notably the 4th and 9th symphonies. The 6th is quite nice, too. The others are pretty good, too, though not outstanding.  I only have a few of his other recordings

[Roberto]

2. Sergei Celibidache
I can't speak to the rest of his work, but I love his Brahms.

His Bruckner and Tchaikovsky are great too. (But I'm not always in the mood to listen to his recordings...)

7. Jos van Immerseel
His Beethoven alone puts him at the top of pile.  The best Beethoven set I've heard, in fact.

Yes, that Beethoven set is wonderful but I love his Schubert symphonies box too (on Sony CDs). And his Mozart piano concerto cycle is quite good (but not outstanding).

8. Réne Jacobs
His Mozart (symphonies and operas) alone should put him on this list, along with his Haydn (I can't speak to The Creation, but The Seasons is great), but one also has to consider all his great work in Baroque opera (and other vocal works), which I am currently exploring.

I agree. If it is possible The Creation is even better than The Seasons. I don't know his baroque recordings but in Mozart he is the best conductor for me.

10. Marc Minkowski
Like Jacobs his Mozart is great and he is also a genius advocate for the Baroque.  I've heard many good things about his Haydn (aside from his reading of the Surprise Symphony ) among other things, too.

That Jupiter is exceptional. The power of the last movement is breathtaking! But that Idomeneo ballet is nothing special.

[Lisztianwagner]

Mine could be:

Herbert von Karajan
Carlos Kleiber
Leonard Bernstein
Mariss Jansons
Georg Solti
Claudio Abbado
Simon Rattle
Riccardo Chailly
Daniel Barenboim
Andris Nelsons

[Geo Dude]

His Bruckner and Tchaikovsky are great too. (But I'm not always in the mood to listen to his recordings...)
Yes, that Beethoven set is wonderful but I love his Schubert symphonies box too (on Sony CDs). And his Mozart piano concerto cycle is quite good (but not outstanding).
I agree. If it is possible The Creation is even better than The Seasons. I don't know his baroque recordings but in Mozart he is the best conductor for me.
That Jupiter is exceptional. The power of the last movement is breathtaking! But that Idomeneo ballet is nothing special.

I'm not sure I've seen you around much, but I like you already, Roberto...

I've heard many great things about Celibidache's Bruckner, in particular that he brings out an element of Schubert influence that other conductors ignore.  He will certainly be the first on my list when I hit the romantic period again and want to hear some Bruckner.  The same applies to Immerseel's Schubert, which I've heard many great things about from the right people. (Those that match my tastes.)  It's also good to hear a confident assessment of Jacobs' recording of The Creation.  I will make sure to check that out when the time comes.

[Pat B]

The same applies to Immerseel's Schubert, which I've heard many great things about from the right people. (Those that match my tastes.)

I also endorse Immerseel's Schubert cycle.

[Roberto]

I'm not sure I've seen you around much, but I like you already, Roberto...

I'm just an occasional guest. 

I've heard many great things about Celibidache's Bruckner, in particular that he brings out an element of Schubert influence that other conductors ignore.  He will certainly be the first on my list when I hit the romantic period again and want to hear some Bruckner.

I bought Celibidache's EMI Bruckner box and I have all available Bruckner symphony with Furtwängler too (mainly on SWF CDs). A Bruckner admirer once said I can't get appropriate image about Bruckner because I've chosen the two extremes. But I'm happy with them. 

It's also good to hear a confident assessment of Jacobs' recording of The Creation.

I wish he would record the Haffner and Linz symphonies 

[Geo Dude]

I wish he would record the Haffner and Linz symphonies 

Agreed.  Same with Minkowski.

[vandermolen]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/24/john-eliot-gardiner-pulls-out-of-bbc-proms-after-reports-he-punched-bass-singer