Harnoncourt or Hogwood?

[Bogey]

 Will Harnoncourt's Bach put him over the top, or will Hogwood's partial, but glorious survey of Haydn be enough?   I love 'em both and cannot decide.

[DavidW]

I can decide... Harnoncourt.  He can play in HIP style, modern style, romanticized and everything inbetween to suit the music and what he wants to do with the music.  He is one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.  Who else has such a lean Paris symphonies and a lush London?

[Geo Dude]

I'm unable to decide, so handed down fruit cake it is.

[Bogey]

I'm unable to decide, so handed down fruit cake it is.

[Lisztianwagner]

Harnoncourt for me.

[mszczuj]

Voted for Harnoncourt. But admire Hogwood as well.

[Jo498]

Harnoncourt, very clearly for me. I cannot think of any Hogwood recording I hold to be essential for me, although it is nice to have some of these alternative versions of Haydn symphonies.
I might have to think twice with Harnoncourt vs. Gardiner, though.

[TheGSMoeller]

"You called?" -said The Harnoncourt

[Brahmsian]

"You called?" -said The Harnoncourt

Oh hey, I have that CD (albeit a different cover)

[Sammy]

Although tremendously accomplished, Harnoncourt has never captured my imagination.  With Hogwood, I'm entranced by his Louis Couperin disc, Haydn cello concertos, Bach's French Suites, etc.  So it's Hogwood for me.

[Jo498]

I am afraid, I do not know all too many of Hogwood's recordings, but apart from the Haydn I should have mentioned two rare Handel oratorios, Esther and Athalia, where he made pioneering recordings.

Dozens of Harnoncourt's recordings are cornerstones for me: Bach's St Matthew with all male soloists from 1970 and also the new one, the newer St. John, several cantatas, Handel's opp.3,4,6,7, St. Cecilia and Alexander's Feast, Haydn's late masses and 7 words, symphonies (some early and middle and the Paris, less fond of his "London" set), Mozart's sacred music, woodwind and horn concerti, symphonies and serenades, Beethoven's symphonies and Missa. I am not convinced by some of his recordings of later romantics, the Brahms symphonies were weak.

[DavidW]

I can decide... Harnoncourt.  He can play in HIP style, modern style, romanticized and everything inbetween to suit the music and what he wants to do with the music.  He is one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.  Who else has such a lean Paris symphonies and a lush London?

I haven't changed my mind.

[Mandryka]

Harnoncourt.

I think a lot depends what you listen to music for, and how you listen, and which music you listen to.

Harnoncourt's  writings are bolder than many of his performances, but when he has the courage to live up to his convictions, then I think the results are very very interesting to listen to. No other conductor, maybe no other musician, has so much captured my imagination in major works -- from Brandenburg 6 (DVD) through to Missa Solemnis (DVD) to Das Paradies und die Peri (live at the Chatelet.) 

Hogwood has had a much less profound impact on me, and is rarely my first choice, either as a keyboard player or as a conductor. It may be that where Hogwood excels is in places which are pretty peripheral to my listening - Haydn or Handel. I will listen to his Louis Couperin today and post if I have any reaction, enchanted or otherwise. One thing I would say is that I've never had my imagination stimulated by his clavichord playing - Mozart, C P E Bach, Handel, J S Bach -- maybe I should revisit these things. I remember enjoying some Beethoven concertos -- but again I found that Harnoncourt had more interesting things to say.

The extraordinary op 15 from Harnoncourt with Aimard is probably less "successful" than Hogwood with Lubin, but I found it infinitely more interesting and thought provoking. Similarly his second recording of the B minor mass, though maybe less successful than (eg) Brugen's first or Leonhardt or Hengelbrock, is really interesting to listen to closely  -- full of new and exciting ideas about how the words and the music interact. Noone I've heard more successfully implements Monteverdi's ideas about affekt in Combattimento than Harnoncourt, and that makes it a really valuable performance.

Maybe most importantly, I think Harnoncourt has some bold ideas about making old music contemporary, in the first few chapters of Baroque Music Today, although I very much disagree with him about recent composers.