Who are the mediocrities of conducting?

[MN Dave]

The ones that cause the discerning listener to consistently think "meh."

I was thinking about this question this morning. People will mention Marriner and Masur, I'm sure. And Rattle maybe. 

[Lethevich]

I almost never see the following get much praise on this forum:

Ozawa, Previn, Leinsdorf.

[MN Dave]

I almost never see the following get much praise on this forum:

Ozawa, Previn, Leinsdorf.

I saw Previn get some praise in a Rach thread recently. But, yeah, that's about it.

[ChamberNut]

People will mention Marriner

Marriner, really?  I thought he was a highly regarded conductor?  Especially for Mozart. 

[MN Dave]

Marriner, really?  I thought he was a highly regarded conductor?  Especially for Mozart. 

Some find him a bit too cool. A bit too ho-hum.

[Mark G. Simon]

I recall a spectacular Agon conducted by Leinsdorf with the Boston Symphony, equalled only by MTT's performance (on the Stravinsky in Hollywood CD). Also a fine Ariadne auf Naxos.

[Don]

Some find him a bit too cool. A bit too ho-hum.

That would be my assessment.

[Brian]

Seiji Ozawa, Zubin Mehta (post-1990 career) and Marin Alsop (in pre-1920 repertoire) leap to my mind immediately. Kurt Masur is a great choice - though "mediocre" would be a charitable description of his Brahms 4 as aired on PBS' "Great Performances" - and I think that our man in Houston, Hans Graf, qualifies. Neeme Jarvi has a semi-storied discography on Chandos, but in my four years in Detroit I only ever heard two truly inspired performances under his baton - symphonies by Tchaikovsky (#4 - although his Tchaikovsky albums on BIS have been panned!) and Tubin.

[Don]

In addition to Marriner, two that come to mind are Yablonsky and Malgoire.

[Bonehelm]

Long Yu.

[hornteacher]

Hmm, I saw the title of the thread and thought it was about me.   

[bassio]

Yes, Marriner just 'lets the music speak for itself'. He is not in the habit of pressing a personal stamp of his. That is why he sounds too  .. benign. Although occassionaly it yields some good results.

But his Brandenburg concerto set with Szeryng, Rampal, Petri is one my tops .. on modern instruments.

[Renfield]

Hans Graf is indeed among the first few to come to mind; and so would Ozawa and Masur, but I'm beginning to think it's more about their being peculiar than it is about their being mediocre.

I also admit I've never heard a truly great recording by either Lorin Maazel or James Levine, but that's probably my limited listening experience with those two. And Mehta is "spared" by that Mahler 2nd, although it's far from being my favourite...


Oh, I know! Christian Thielemann. *snickers*

Or if he just continues copying Karajan, minus the Karajan. But he does have potential, if he can find the courage to use it, in my opinion.


Previn isn't all that bad. And Rattle is anything but mediocre: depending on the viewpoint, he seems to be either trash or brilliant.

[greg]

Hmm, I saw the title of the thread and thought it was about me.   

Me, too...... in fact, I'm awful....... cuz I've actually never had any experience conducting before.....

[bassio]

Me, too...... in fact, I'm awful....... cuz I've actually never had any experience conducting before.....

What are the odds for a complete amateur like myself Greg to learn conducting? 

[greg]

What are the odds for a complete amateur like myself Greg to learn conducting? 

Depends on how much you want to, and how hard you work at it?

.....and if you have $ for conservatory classes?...

[BorisG]

Michael-Tilson-Thomas.

[Josquin des Prez]

I'd vote 50 Cents if recoiling in horror could be considered as "meh". 

[eyeresist]

The real mediocrities are largely unknown, I think. Lesser names such as Ozawa and Previn are known because they have done some good work in some areas, even if they generally find it hard to maintain that standard. There are some conductors I really despise (not naming names here!), but that's really a matter of personal incompatability rather than musical deficiency.

[greg]

The real mediocrities are largely unknown, I think. Lesser names such as Ozawa and Previn are known because they have done some good work in some areas, even if they generally find it hard to maintain that standard. There are some conductors I really despise (not naming names here!), but that's really a matter of personal incompatability rather than musical deficiency.

Exactly. The same goes with composers. It's actually a good idea to learn what not to do when composing...... so how do you learn what's bad? There's the places where people can post their scores on Finale and Sibelius' web sites, for example...... hm, actually, i just might take another look.