Great Conductors of the 20th Century

[mn dave]

 

[Que]

You forgot Willem Mengelberg, Eduard van Beinum and Paul van Kempen.

Q

[jochanaan]

At this level, it's pretty much personal preference.  However, I can definitely say that "you missed one!" You mentioned Erich Kleiber, and that mention is certainly well-deserved--his 1950s Marriage of Figaro is as perfect as it gets--but how can you have forgotten Erich's even-more-famous son Carlos Kleiber?

[mn dave]

Fixed.

[Don]

Tough choices. I went with Giulini, Klemperer, Bohm, Mravinsky and Ancerl.

[mn dave]

--but how can you have forgotten Erich's even-more-famous son Carlos Kleiber?

Because I based it on the EMI series.

[ChamberNut]

My other pick goes to Harnoncourt.

[mn dave]

My other pick goes to Harnoncourt.

Added (at the bottom).

[ChamberNut]

Rattle, Jochum, Sawallisch, Gardiner, Solti, Abbado?

Runs away fast......

[ChamberNut]

Added (at the bottom).

Thanks. 

[mn dave]

Rattle, Jochum, Sawallisch, Gardiner, Solti, Abbado?

Runs away fast......

All losers. 

[ChamberNut]

All losers. 

Go eat a moldy muffin! 

[mn dave]

4 out of 5 voters choose Klempy.  

[mn dave]

Go eat a moldy muffin! 

   

[Que]

My other pick goes to Harnoncourt.

Added (at the bottom).

Objection!
If we are going to add conductors that are still active (in this century), where are Gergiev, Janssons, Abbado, Haitink, etc?

BTW other notable absentee is: Bernstein.

Q

[mn dave]

Objection!
If we are going to add conductors that are still active (in this century), were are Gergiev, Janssons, Abbado, Haitink, etc?

BTW other notable absentee is: Bernstein.

Q

Okay, stick to folks who died in the last century.

Bernstein is there.

[mn dave]

And if you're going to add one, are you REALLY sure they're better than those listed already?

[Alejandro C.]

All our options seem to be male (please correct me if I'm wrong!). 

This fact has always struck me...  It raises questions for me, rhetorical "what-if" questions like:

Missed opportunities.  This is the biggest one for me.  What artistic voices and visions will we never hear?  How much richer -- or just somehow different -- would the world of "conducting" be, had women been granted the opportunities to make their marks from the outset (say, since the early decades of the twentieth century)?   Is it even fair to assume that women (on the whole) would develop different conducting practices from men (on the whole) -- or is that thought itself sexist?

Is the male-dominated roster of "Great Conductors" any different in character from the male-dominated roster of "Great Composers" -- or, indeed, of the roster of any field of art (jazz, painting, literature, etc.)?

Will/should there be conscientious efforts to encourage female conductors in the 21st century? 

[kristopaivinen]

Rattle, Jochum, Sawallisch, Gardiner, Solti, Abbado?

Runs away fast......

Most of them are not even dead. However, forgetting Solti is inexcusable.

[mn dave]

Most of them are not even dead. However, forgetting Solti is inexcusable.

Oh, I'm sure it's perfectly excusable, but I added him anyway.  Because I'm a nice guy. Don't let anyone tell you different.

I also added Wand. He died last century, I think...