Conductors

[Baron Scarpia]

All of them made recordings that are unsurpassed. None among the 30-50ish crowd comes close to them in stature.

In all fairness, the greats typically did not attain their stature when they were 30-50ish either.

[André]

Many of them did, IMO. As for the older ones (born pre-1900), the recording industry was still in its early stages, and orchestral standards were not what they became after the fifties. But I concede this is debatable.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Many of them did, IMO. As for the older ones (born pre-1900), the recording industry was still in its early stages, and orchestral standards were not what they became after the fifties. But I concede this is debatable.

I don't think even most orchestras were up to today's standards until well into the 90s. A few exceptions I can think of would be the Cleveland Orchestra, who have been at an incredibly high standard for a long time, and possibly the Vienna Phil, who have barely improved since the 1960s and sound comparable to a second rate youth orchestra these days if they don't have a conductor willing to make the orchestra work hard.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Living favorites

(i.e. a conductor where i'd go into the concert for him, rather than the work... or at least never not want to go because of him.) That may include crap-shot conductors like Gatti (it happens not to include crapshoot conductor Gergiev (whom I would seek out to hear in special project but not on a general basis)

K.Petrenko, Honeck, Chailly, Haitink, Blomstedt

Dausgaard, Thielemann, Nelsons, Nezet-Seguin

Gatti, J.Paervi, O.Vanska, H.Holliger, E.z.Guttenberg Ed.; added: Dohnanyi, Salonen, Minkowski

Bychkov, Poschner, Yutaka Sado, Pletnev



...these off the top of my head; I could -- in fact will -- add more, I suppose.


Conductors to avoid at reasonable cost:

Mehta, Muti (except in very specific repertoire), Meister, Young, Znaider...

[André]

Does J. Paervi = P. Järvi ?

Of your list, only Haitink and Blomstedt would move me to buy tickets because of their very presence. Otherwise, the program would be my prime motivation  .

[Baron Scarpia]

Does J. Paervi = P. Järvi ?

Of your list, only Haitink and Blomstedt would move me to buy tickets because of their very presence. Otherwise, the program would be my prime motivation  .

To that I would add Chailly, Dausgaard, Honeck.

Conductors to avoid at reasonable cost:

Mehta, Muti (except in very specific repertoire), Meister, Young, Znaider...

What about Franz Welser-Möst? I heard that at some circles at EMI his nick-name was "frankly, worst than most."

[SurprisedByBeauty]

What about Franz Welser-Möst? I heard that at some circles at EMI his nick-name was "frankly, worst than most."

That was his nickname in London, generally. I'm not a fan of FWM, thinking him a "custodian of sound", but I do think he is a VERY fine opera conductor and as long as he has the best orchestras in the world at his disposal, his concerts are probably always worth seeking out. At his best he can be great, but his MO isn't such that I would put him in my top tier. Still, I would put him in the above-average category, not the "avoid" category. His Cunning Little Vixen in Vienna with the ClevO was ravishing: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2017/11/16/review-a-ravishing-cleveland-vixen-in-vienna/

[amw]

Honestly I don't think about conductors all that much but.....

In general:

Kondrashin
Harnoncourt
Cambreling
Holliger
Dohnányi (C.v.)
Norrington
Tamayo
Ormandy
van Nevel
Huggett

Repertoire-specific:

Salonen
Minkowski
Bour
Gielen
Stenz
Kna
Boulez
Jochum (E.)
Mälkki
Ančerl
Szell
Roth (F.-X.)
Brüggen
Furtwängler
Chailly
de Leeuw
Zender
Kubelík
Sawallisch
Leinsdorf

[Sergeant Rock]

What about Franz Welser-Möst? I heard that at some circles at EMI his nick-name was "frankly, worst than most."

He received scathing reviews from the Cleveland Plain Dealer too after he became music director of the Cleveland O--until the newspaper owners silenced the critic (Donald Rosenberg). That said, I've never had a problem with his conducting. True, I've only heard him live twice (Haydn 101 and Bruckner 7 with the LPO; Mahler 5 in Cleveland) but both concerts were memorable, even thrilling. I also like the few recordings I have by him (especially his Bruckner 5, Korngold Symphony, and Schmidt Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln).

Sarge
 

[Draško]

Living favorites

(i.e. a conductor where i'd go into the concert for him, rather than the work...

Ivan Fischer, Kirill Petrenko, Manfred Honeck, William Christie.

[Papy Oli]

He received scathing reviews from the Cleveland Plain Dealer too after he became music director of the Cleveland O--until the newspaper owners silenced the critic (Donald Rosenberg). That said, I've never had a problem with his conducting. True, I've only heard him live twice (Haydn 101 and Bruckner 7 with the LPO; Mahler 5 in Cleveland) but both concerts were memorable, even thrilling. I also like the few recordings I have by him (especially his Bruckner 5, Korngold Symphony, and Schmidt Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln).

Sarge

His Mahler 4th is well worth a listen I think, very much on the slow side, but some nice detailing.

[Brian]

My list for current active conductors to see live also begins with Ivan Fischer and Manfred Honeck, and also would include Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Jurowski, Stephane Deneve, both Petrenkos, Salonen, Dausgaard, and Antoni Wit.

[knight66]

I have quite recently been in Chailly and Dausgaard performances. Chailly, possibly due to diary issues, sent the La Scala chorus master along to take the piano chorus rehearsal. He made sense and we changed what we were doing to suit what he requested. The following day we were in the hall for Chailly's orchestral rehearsal. We started off, Chailly is a really special musician, very clear and easy to follow. He had the La Scala guy with him at the podium. He changed just about everything that had been specified the previous day. It was clear that they had not conferred in advance. We were not going back to how we had earlier rehearsed it, Chailly wanted other different detailing, which we happily supplied and the performance went well.

There was a bit of amusement that despite the minimal effect of the La Scala guy, he had insisted on a dressing room to himself, which required a room to be emptied out of orchestra players.

Dausgaard had a lot of very interesting ideas, but had some problems getting them across to us and to the orchestra. He kept at it until he was satisfied and the performance was well received. I have very much enoyed his orchestral concerts.

My list of special conductors who I would travel to experience includes Chailly, Nelsons, Petrenko, Jordan, Bychkov, Nezet-Seguin, Jurowsky, Ed Gardiner, Sondergard and Mark Elder.

Mike

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I guess from next year you can see Petrenko whenever you want on Berliner Philharmoniker's digital concert hall, but personally I'd love to see him live before he leaves Munich. Thankfully, I'll be there at the end of this year to see him conduct there.

His concert performances there are almost always sold out; the beloved conductor that he is, his name alone attracts a massive audience wanting to see him perform. I can't think of many other conductors who have garnered that level of popularity in recent years.

[Baron Scarpia]

One conductor who I have soured on is Barenboim. It seems that he always is adding some sort of twist of phrasing or tempo to the music which strikes me as totally inappropriate. At one point I held him in better regard, and consequently I find myself with a fair quantity of his recordings.

This doesn't apply to his piano performances, particularly the old ones.

[Draško]

Living favorites

(i.e. a conductor where i'd go into the concert for him, rather than the work...

Ivan Fischer, Kirill Petrenko, Manfred Honeck, William Christie.

One name I'd add is Dohnanyi. I thought he was retired, but no, still going strong. I've been listening to his relatively recent Bruckner 9th with Philharmonia, from Salzburg on Signum, and it's an absolutely superb performance. A big Dohnanyi box from Decca wouldn't be amiss.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Arturo Tamayo is one fantatic conductor I didn't mention earlier. Also, Cambreling is pretty good, but not one of my favourites.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Ivan Fischer, Kirill Petrenko, Manfred Honeck, William Christie.


One name I'd add is Dohnanyi. I thought he was retired, but no, still going strong. I've been listening to his relatively recent Bruckner 9th with Philharmonia, from Salzburg on Signum, and it's an absolutely superb performance. A big Dohnanyi box from Decca wouldn't be amiss.

I agree -- in fact, I had amended my post to include him, even before you posted this (see above). I also agree re: Bruckner 9th. I was at that performance (http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2014/08/notes-from-2014-salzburg-festival-9.html) and I love the CD: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2017/02/23/classical-cd-of-the-week-bruckners-end-in-salzburg/#262d87fa1714

[Draško]

I agree -- in fact, I had amended my post to include him, even before you posted this (see above). I also agree re: Bruckner 9th. I was at that performance (http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2014/08/notes-from-2014-salzburg-festival-9.html) and I love the CD: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2017/02/23/classical-cd-of-the-week-bruckners-end-in-salzburg/#262d87fa1714

Would have loved to have been there. I agree with your review: wonderfully controlled performance, transparent and flowing. Love when trumpets, horns and wagner-tubas are clearly discernible in big brass tuttis, also lots of fine detail in quiet passages, wonderful horn in that Siegfried like passage post first climax in the adagio.   

[Dancing Divertimentian]

One name I'd add is Dohnanyi. I thought he was retired, but no, still going strong. I've been listening to his relatively recent Bruckner 9th with Philharmonia, from Salzburg on Signum, and it's an absolutely superb performance. A big Dohnanyi box from Decca wouldn't be amiss.

+1 for Dohnanyi, and also for a Decca box.