# Your all time favorite conductor



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Here's where we can gush about who we feel is the best of the best.

A few here might guess from memory that my favorite is Herman Scherchen. The energy exuding from every pore of Beethoven's 8th and 5th make those my preferred recordings without a doubt. His recording of Handel's Messiah with the London Symphony Orchestra explores a whole musical spectrum, and who would expect Scherchen of all conductors to take it that slow during the Amen fugue? It not only works there but it's so exquisite I can barely stand listening to it.


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I'll take TC public enemy no. 1: Herbert von Karajan. He has such a high output, is very accessible, and just has a ton of really landmark interpretations. I prefer his Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky over any other conductor. Anytime I am going to make a purchase, I will hit YouTube and listen to as many different conductors/orchestras as I can so that I KNOW I'm getting the one that speaks to me the most; HvK has ended up being my option more than any other. 
Other conductors who come in close behind: Solti, Abbado, Giulini, Klemperer, Szell.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

This guy. Evgeny Mravinsky.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Wilhelm Furtwangler. Transcendent Bruckner, Brahms, and Wagner, and the only conductor on record who knows what the second act of _Tristan und Isolde_ should sound like.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Like most people, I like different conductors for different things, but glancing through my catalog it appears Richard Hickox is one of the most prominent names, probably because I like the Chandos label. I'm usually quite happy with his tasteful interpretations.

Other frequent names include, Boulez, Järvi, and Serebrier, the latter probably because of the ubiquitous Naxos label and also because of a large Glazunov boxed set I purchased this year.


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## Truckload (Feb 15, 2012)

I think most of the men who rise to the position of conductor with a major orchestra do a good job. But of the living conductors, I have been pleasantly surprised by Gerard Schwarz on several occasions.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

^That was cool! Schwarz is a great champion of lesser known music. He is pretty high on my list too.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

This seems like such a difficult question so I will make it a bit easier by only choosing amongst conductor who have been active since 1950 but who are no longer with us. Even then it isn't easy but as I scan my mental list, there is only one whose recorded repertoire was wide and where I don't have to think "was this a good period for X?" and that is John Barbirolli ... Sibelius, Nielsen, Mahler, Bruckner, RVW, Elgar, Puccini, Verdi, etc., etc. Not necessarily the best at all but would usually be in the top few.

Others who I eliminated for various reasons ...
Otto Klemperer - because of his later, very slow recordings and not as broad a repertoire in the given period.
Vernon Handley - great in 20th century British but had a narrow recorded repertoire
Colin Davis - brilliant in many areas but there are some key parts of the repertoire where I would not choose him


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

We did a poll on this on another site, but it was limited to conductors who were alive and working. That's gotten a bit more difficult over the last couple of years because of the many sad losses.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

My all-time favorite conductor is Leonard Bernstein. I can't believe he's been gone 25 years + already.

I like Michael Tilson Thomas and, as already mentioned, Gerard Schwarz


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I'll stick with tired, old, plodding, unexciting Eugene Ormandy and the Philly, all those years. I also liked Ansermet and L'Orcheste de la Suisse-Romande.


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## Richard8655 (Feb 19, 2016)

Otto Klemperer (legacy), Trevor Pinnock (contemporary).


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I'd probably go with Karajan... especially for his great 50s and 60s recordings or Beethovenm, Brahm, Bruckner, Mozart's operas, Humperdinck, etc... followed ever so closely by John Eliot Gardiner and Jordi Savall.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

I don't have a this big favorite. Can't choose only one.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

We had a same question not so long ago.
Here we go: Muti for his opera works, Solti for his outstanding and never dull recordings, Bernstein , because he's Bernstein.
And last but suddenly not least: Richard Bonynge who brought back the Bel canto repertoire, with his wife Dame Joan Sutherland :tiphat:


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

It seems to me there are conductors who are great in specific areas of the vast repertoire of classical music so, for me, it's impossible to generalize.

There are conductors who are great Mahlerians (Thomas Sanderling, Michael Gielen, etc.); there are conductors who are great HIP Classical Era specialists (Gardiner, Hogwood, etc.); great conductors of 20th-21st Century Modernism (Arturo Tamayo, Elgar Howarth, Sylvain Cambreling, etc.).

I'd add that Stanisław Skrowaczewski is the greatest conductor I've experienced first hand and this was in the role of visiting conductor with our local, not very great, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and on multiple occasions.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Karajan. Although he wasn't good at absolutely everything his repertoire was enormous and today you usually select One of his recordings of most things to be up there with the very best.
Consider his opera recordings which were phenomenal - his few live ones sometimes show him even better. 
He created / moulded two great orchestras - the Philarmonia and then the BPO.
The orchestral pkaying under him had an almost supernatural beauty.
Of course he had his detractors. He was hated (still is) often by people who hated success in others and he sometimes didn't help himself by his insistence on being in complete control - but he was not alone among conductors in that!
When he was in charge his players were the best paid in the world. 
He left a phenomenal number of recordings - almost too many (the last Beethoven symphonies for example) - of course there are comparative duds but so are there with most conductors. But his best are right up there with the best. They still sell well today.
He was the conductor Carlos Kleiber admired the most.
So all round I go for Karajan.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Furtwangler- vision, Klemperer-depth, Bernstein-emotion


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

Sir Adrian Boult. The very model of what a conductor should be: Completely at the service of the music (yes, I know it sounds corny, but it's true, nevertheless); self-effacing, and never, ever 'played to the gallery', unlike some I could name and shame, but won't.


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## Picander (May 8, 2013)

Karl Richter.
/15 characters.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Can't do it. .


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## Grotrian (May 5, 2016)

Toscanini, if absolutely pressed to make a choice. The Philadelphia Schubert 9th is extra special. At the same time, I do not want to have to choose between Toscanini and Furtwängler.


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

Ormandy, with the Philadelphia.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Picander said:


> Karl Richter.
> /15 characters.


Richter and Suzuki are both way up there for me, right next to Scherchen, because I own a ton of recordings from both of them. Not to mention that Richter was a heavenly organist, in my opinion.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I liked Simon Rattle & Esa-Pekka Salonen since the 80's so maybe they are my favorites. The only conductors I've seen documentaries about are Claudio Abbado & Carlos Kleiber, they too are my favorites. Abbado said "...listen to the snow falling", that's zen


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## Picander (May 8, 2013)

Lukecash12 said:


> Richter and Suzuki are both way up there for me, right next to Scherchen, because I own a ton of recordings from both of them. Not to mention that Richter was a heavenly organist, in my opinion.


Yes, he was a very good organist too. His "wedge" fugue from the BWV 548 is probably my preferred recording of this incredible fugue: 




He was a very good clavecinist too. I like very much is Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor.

But where I think Richter is unsurpassed is in his understanding of the richness of the inner voices in Bach's vocal compositions.

Sorry for muy English and for the little off-topic.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)




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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

My favorite conductor is probably Fritz Reiner. There're other conductors I need to explore more, so maybe my opinion will change in the future.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

Charles Mackerras. His Mozart Symphonies on Linn are great! I also have his Beethoven cycle he did in 2006.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

John T said:


> Sir Adrian Boult. The very model of what a conductor should be: Completely at the service of the music (yes, I know it sounds corny, but it's true, nevertheless); self-effacing, and never, ever 'played to the gallery', unlike some I could name and shame, but won't.


Yes. Absolutely right.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

MarkW said:


> Can't do it. .


Neither can I. Glad I am not the only one.

Much easier to mention the ones I dislike like Fiedler.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

John T said:


> Sir Adrian Boult. The very model of what a conductor should be: Completely at the service of the music (yes, I know it sounds corny, but it's true, nevertheless); self-effacing, and never, ever 'played to the gallery', unlike some I could name and shame, but won't.


I want to hear some of his recordings. Can you recommend some? Thanks!


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I don't seek out particular conductors, but I've always been highly impressed with Karl Bohm recordings I have acquired. Very close behind would be Colin Davis, Herreweghe and Gardiner.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

John T said:


> Sir Adrian Boult. The very model of what a conductor should be: Completely at the service of the music (yes, I know it sounds corny, but it's true, nevertheless); self-effacing, and never, ever 'played to the gallery', unlike some I could name and shame, but won't.


Yes Boult was certainly a most under-rated conductor. I remember seeing him at the Proms in London when, as a very old man, he conducted a most vigorous Brahms 4 and Elgar's Falstaff. tremendous ovations! He is chiefly remembered as a supreme conductor of English music but he was so much more than that. I remember reading his book on conducting as a lad and it impressed me with his intelligence and musicianship. It was amazing the effect he got from such a reticent beat. There is a cartoon of him conducting in handcuffs which wasn't far from the truth!


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

OldFashionedGirl said:


> My favorite conductor is probably Fritz Reiner. There're other conductors I need to explore more, so maybe my opinion will change in the future.


They said he looked like Bela Lugosi's brother and acted like it too! :lol:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The preceding remarks about Boult's reticent beat and also Reiner reminds me that Reiner also had a "reticent" beat. A newly-hired member of the Chicago, seated well to the rear and after having endured several rehearsals trying to see Reiner's beat, came to rehearsal with a small telescope, which he set up on its tripod and focused on the podium. When Reiner asked him what it was for, the new hire remarked that it was so he could see the beat. Reiner fired him on the spot.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

So many great ones. I cut my teeth on Szell/Bernstein/Ormandy recordings in the early 70s. Love Trevor Pinnock for HIPP choice. Cherish Furtwangler and a grudging admiration for his nemesis von K. Pierre Monteux and Paul Paray were special favorites, and I am fond of Dorati and Neeme Jaarvi. However, I will throw out a name no one else has--Jascha Horenstein. Many of his recordings are AM bootlegs, but based on his entire body of work that I've heard, he may have been the most consistently greatest of them all.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Strange Magic said:


> The preceding remarks about Boult's reticent beat and also Reiner reminds me that Reiner also had a "reticent" beat. A newly-hired member of the Chicago, seated well to the rear and after having endured several rehearsals trying to see Reiner's beat, came to rehearsal with a small telescope, which he set up on its tripod and focused on the podium. When Reiner asked him what it was for, the new hire remarked that it was so he could see the beat. Reiner fired him on the spot.


That story is probably apochryphal, and has a few variants. The version I have heard was that a double bassist was mimicking his microbeat during an actual concert and pulled out a pair of opera glasses to view Reiner, to the delight an amusement of his section mates. Reiner managed to scribble "You're fired" on the score he was leading and held it up for view the next time the glasses came out.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

That's a hard one. If pressed, I'll go with Yevgeny Svetlanov. No one brought Russian music to the fore as much as (and as well as) Svetlanov, with some exceptions with Fedoseyev, Kondrashin, Golovanov, Khaikin, then Gergiev. His Tchaikovsky and Myaskovsky sets are special and I admire his Glazunov survey (beginning with Raymonda, still a great classic). 

Then,

Leonard Bernstein is a close second (Mahler, the Americans), then comes Karajan (Bruckner, Strauss, Wagner), Wand (Bruckner, Schubert), Solti (Strauss' operas, Mahler), Schwarz (the Americans esp. Diamond, Hanson, Creston).


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I forgot to mention one other fellow who is a go-to conductor for me: Andre Previn. He is underrated in my opinion. I'm particularly struck by his Shostakovich and his Ravel. He is one of the better conductors of 20th century repertoire.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

DavidA- _"Karajan. Although he wasn't good at absolutely everything his repertoire was enormous and today you usually select One of his recordings of most things to be up there with the very best."_

DavidA's post pretty much sums up my thoughts on Karajan... and other conductors whom I would consider to be among the greatest. For me, the ultimate measure of a conductor is that he (or she) has a large repertoire of recordings that I consider among the finest.

Beyond Karajan, Gardiner, and Savall, I would include all the following among my favorites:

Wilhelm Furtwängler
Valery Gergiev
Leonard Berstein
George Szell
Karl Böhm
Georg Solti
Bruno Walter
Pierre Monteux
John Barbirolli
Ferenc Fricsay
Ernest Ansermet
Adrian Boult
Claudio Abbado
Carlos and Erich Kleiber
Fritz Reiner
Thomas Beecham
Otto Klemperer
René Jacobs
Harry Christophers
William Christie
Antoni Wit
Philippe Herreweghe

There are probably a good many more that I just can't think of right now. Toscanini and Stokowski are "missing" due to the fact that I have few works by either. The same is true of the great Russian conductors. It is quite obvious that our "favorites" have much to do with our preferences for given eras and styles of music.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> DavidA- _"Karajan. Although he wasn't good at absolutely everything his repertoire was enormous and today you usually select One of his recordings of most things to be up there with the very best."_
> 
> DavidA's post pretty much sums up my thoughts on Karajan... and other conductors whom I would consider to be among the greatest. For me, the ultimate measure of a conductor is that he (or she) has a large repertoire of recordings that I consider among the finest.
> 
> ...


Our tastes are often the same, so I'll have to look into Ansermet and Monteux. Your list there sums up a sizable chunk of my collection.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Some of my favorites are Kubelik, Boulez, Chung, Gardiner, Herreweghe, Monteux, Martinon, Abbado, Wit, Cambreling, Mackerras, Jacobs, Pinnock and Colin Davis.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Oh this is not easy, but I still feel my favourite is Vernon Handley, for his championing of British music and the quality of recordings he produced
But then again what about Sir Neville Marriner or Sir Coiln Davis
No, I stick with Handley


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Pugg said:


> We had a same question not so long ago.
> Here we go: Muti for his opera works, Solti for his outstanding and never dull recordings, Bernstein , because he's Bernstein.
> And last but suddenly not least: Richard Bonynge who brought back the Bel canto repertoire, with his wife Dame Joan Sutherland :tiphat:


And I made the same answer then, that both Surherland and Bonynge acknowledged the debt they owed to a singer you continually choose to ignore, the singer Caballe thanked effusively for opening a door on a magnificent repertoire behind which it had been sleeping.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

*


GregMitchell said:



And I made the same answer then, that both Sutherland and Bonynge acknowledged the debt they owed to a singer you continually choose to ignore, the singer Caballe thanked effusively for opening a door on a magnificent repertoire behind which it had been sleeping.

Click to expand...

*









No such misremembrance of _La Callas_ is possible with Sutherland and Bonynge 'themselves' though- both of whom knew that Joannie was a primary train-bearer for _La Divina_.

Their recollections bear repeating_ in extenso_:

_*I stood and watched Callas through my own special peephole [at Covent Garden in 1953] *and was astonished at the impact both Maria and Stignani made.* I remember how Callas worked, she was always indefatigable. You couldn't fault her. The impact of Norma and her Aida and Il Trovatore made me wonder is I had the audacity to continue. I wanted to, but I really thought ten times about it after I saw those performances*. . .

*I used to think my large voice was incapable of singing those roles. Callas showed me this was not so.* She sang them and this fact indicated I could too. . .

*She gave me the inspiration to join her at the beginning of my career and she never failed to encourage what I tried to do.*_

- Brian Adams, _La Stupenda: A Biography of Joan Sutherland_ (London and Melbourne: Hutchinson, 1981)

_*Had she since thought about the Callas Norma in her own preparation for the role? The answer was immediate, emphatic. "Oh, of course! She was unforgettable. When I began working on it, I thought of nothing else. I couldn't even conceive of any other was of doing it."* *"Callas was phenomenal in the role," said Bonynge, "though she did bend it considerably to suit her own voice and talents. I think I saw her do it eleven times in all. Really, you New Yorkers can have no idea of what that woman's voice was like, because you heard her only later in her career. But those first London Normas! It was before she lost all the weight, you know. The sheer size of the voice, and what she could do with it! When she sang with Stignani, the Andalgisa, you couldn't tell which was which sometimes. She had such a beautifully rich and dark quality at the bottom of the voice, and yet the high notes were all there, too.*
_
- "The Pinnacle," _Opera News_, April 4, 1970

_*Robert Jacobson: Was it the presence of Maria Callas that made you decide to go more in the direction of bel canto?

Richard Bonynge: In many ways, yes.*

*Joan Sutherland: [Vittorio] Gui and [Tullio] Serafin had already started her in that big revival.

Opera News: Did that start you too, in a way?

Joan Sutherland: Oh sure, it sparked the whole musical field.*

*Richard Bonynge: When we first came from Australia, we heard some of Callas's Puritani on 78's in '49 or '50. That really got to us. And Joan sang Norma with her. We went to every rehearsal, every performance, and one learned an immense lot from her. Very, very great.*

Opera News: London heard some of her greatest performances.

*Richard Bonynge: You see, up until '52, '53, beginning of '54 were her greatest successes. We were there all that time. When she sang Aida, the London press was very snide, very rude about her. The Trovatore was something! We should hear it like that today! She was always nervous in Act I, but once that was over, fantastic!*

*Joan Sutherland: Wear and tear, but oh, the tension! She was obviously well trained and well taught and had fabulous directors. She soaked up everything.*

*Richard Bonynge: But before she slimmed down, I mean this was such a colossal voice. It just sort of poured out of her, the way Flagstad's did. . . Callas had a huge voice. When she and Stignani sang Norma, at the bottom of the range you could barely tell who was who.*

*Opera News: An extended dramatic voice.

Richard Bonynge: Oh, it was colossal! And she took the big sound right up to the top.*
_
- Conversation Piece, _Opera News_, December 4, 1982

Bonynge doesn't even effuse over his wife that way.

Cluck, cluck.

Greatest performer 'EV-A.'


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

Pat Fairlea said:


> Yes. Absolutely right.


Wow - 3 posts, and already someone agrees with me! (Thank you, Pat)


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

CDs said:


> I want to hear some of his recordings. Can you recommend some? Thanks!


I can certainly recommend this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bach-Wagne...d=1462641670&sr=1-5&keywords=Sir+Adrian+Boult

Among other things, it includes a wonderful performance of Beethoven's _Pastoral Symphony_, and some quite magnificent Wagner.


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## Guest (May 8, 2016)

A difficult question to answer because it's the music that comes first, not the performer. In other words, what I listen to, and want to own/collect are the symphonies of x composer, not the performances of y conductor. So, the Haydn's London Symphonies I decided to buy - on others' recommendation - were recorded by the AC with Sir Colin Davis; the version of Turangalila was conducted by Andre Previn, Sibelius by Berglund (though I now own several others), Mahler by Abbado and Janssons, various Beethoven's by Karajan, Fricsay, Barenboim, McKerras, Toscanini...etc

I don't doubt that when I am old(er) and grey(er) and have a massive enough collection, I shall be able to single out one or two maestros that dominate, and might even be able to identify a favourite. For now, the only 'favourites' I would advance would be on the basis of having watched them - Nelsons, Sondergard, Haitink, Rattle - and felt that their presence on the podium added to more than detracted from my enjoyment.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

John T said:


> I can certainly recommend this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bach-Wagne...d=1462641670&sr=1-5&keywords=Sir+Adrian+Boult
> 
> Among other things, it includes a wonderful performance of Beethoven's _Pastoral Symphony_, and some quite magnificent Wagner.


Thanks John T! I was going through my collection today and found a CD with him conducting two Mozart Piano Concertos. But I will be looking into Boult's catalog more deep now.


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

You're welcome. I should also add that, this set also includes very fine performances of Brahms' symphonies, serenades and overtures, and a Schubert 9th which can rank among the best available.


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

CDs said:


> Thanks John T! I was going through my collection today and found a CD with him conducting two Mozart Piano Concertos. But I will be looking into Boult's catalog more deep now.


You're welcome. I should also add that, this set also includes very fine performances of Brahms' symphonies, serenades and overtures, and a Schubert 9th which can rank among the best available.


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

I think that the sounds that Furtwängler drew from his orchestras are uniquely wonderful and for this, he is my favourite. However, due to the poor recording quality of most Furtwängler recordings, I more regularly listen to Karl Böhm's, who covered a fairly large repertoire of the composers that I enjoy the most (Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Schubert and Richard Strauss). He draws such lushness and beauty from his orchestras, which I adore.

I have most or many of the orchestral (as opposed to opera) recordings of Carlos Kleiber, Ferenc Fricsay and James Levine, all of whose recordings I find to be of the highest quality but their recording repertoires are more limited. I also have the Boult box set mentioned earlier, which is very fine indeed, particularly the Wagner, which is exquisite and made me appreciate him (Wagner) more than ever before.


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

DavidA said:


> Yes Boult was certainly a most under-rated conductor. I remember seeing him at the Proms in London when, as a very old man, he conducted a most vigorous Brahms 4 and Elgar's Falstaff. tremendous ovations! He is chiefly remembered as a supreme conductor of English music but he was so much more than that. I remember reading his book on conducting as a lad and it impressed me with his intelligence and musicianship. It was amazing the effect he got from such a reticent beat. There is a cartoon of him conducting in handcuffs which wasn't far from the truth!
> 
> View attachment 84282


"Very worthy chap, old Adrian; positively reeks of Horlicks". --

-- Sir Thomas Beecham


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

The best performance of Schubert's "Great C major" - a piece which can sometimes outstay its welcome for me - that I've ever heard, whether live or on record, was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult in Worcester Cathedral back in (I think it was) the late 60s/early 70s. Beecham was a considerable musician in his own right but some of his musical aperçus, this one included, were clearly made at least as much for effect as for the sake of their actual content.

Despite the relative narrowness of Carlos Kleiber's recorded repertoire I'd have to nominate him. No other conductor in my experience "hits the spot" so unerringly so often.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I agree about Beecham's bon mots. Here is another one said about Herbert von Karajan - "a kind of musical Malcolm Sargent"


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

CDs said:


> Thanks John T! I was going through my collection today and found a CD with him conducting two Mozart Piano Concertos. But I will be looking into Boult's catalog more deep now.


Hi, CDs, you're welcome. I suggest that you browse Amazon, where there is a very good selection of Boult's recordings to be found - including a first-rate set of the complete symphonies of Vaughan Williams.


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

Becca said:


> I agree about Beecham's bon mots. Here is another one said about Herbert von Karajan - "a kind of musical Malcolm Sargent"


"A joke, then and now, very sometimes. Yes. But always? By God - never!" -

- Ernest Ansermet, while rehearsing with the London Symphony Orchestra.

(Not exactly a _bon mot_, but I like it)


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

It would have to be Bernstein. Such a wide repertoire, always interesting, and scarcely a dud recording to his name.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

John T said:


> Wow - 3 posts, and already someone agrees with me! (Thank you, Pat)


You're most welcome!


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

John T said:


> "Very worthy chap, old Adrian; positively reeks of Horlicks". --
> 
> -- Sir Thomas Beecham


Boult famously halted a premiere performance of something - I forget what it was. He apologised to the audience "I am sorry. This really isn't going well. We'll start again". An elderly friend of my long-ago youth knew Boult well and clearly thought the world of him.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

John T said:


> You're welcome. I should also add that, this set also includes very fine performances of Brahms' symphonies, serenades and overtures, and a Schubert 9th which can rank among the best available.


What makes this set better that his other box sets on Warner?


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> I'll stick with tired, old, plodding, unexciting Eugene Ormandy and the Philly, all those years. I also liked Ansermet and L'Orcheste de la Suisse-Romande.


Um, if it's tired, old, plodding and unexcited, why do you like it?


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Herrenvolk said:


> Um, if it's tired, old, plodding and unexcited, why do you like it?


Aren't being tired, old, plodding--and unexciting--virtues? Now I'm going to have to rethink my post.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Strange Magic said:


> Aren't being tired, old, plodding--and unexciting--virtues?


Now I feel better.


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> Aren't being tired, old, plodding--and unexciting--virtues? Now I'm going to have to rethink my post.


Not for music. Do you find music played in such manner interesting? That'd be peculiar.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Herrenvolk said:


> Not for music. Do you find music played in such manner interesting? That'd be peculiar.


I'll do anything to appear peculiar, a trait we seem to share.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

I realize there have been a lot of threads like this, but thanks anyways, guys. You've given me a lot to listen to, and it's great to see those little gem stories from the usual suspects who always seem to have something like that up their sleeve.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Jascha Horenstein, of unquestioned merit.

Jonel Perlea, irrespective of objective merit.


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## Xenakiboy (May 8, 2016)

Boulez, Bernstein and Salonen for me


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

CDs said:


> What makes this set better that his other box sets on Warner?


I can't say it's "better", because the contents of this boxed set are different from the others. I believe one set includes three recordings of _The Planets_, so I'm going to pass on that one - not because I don't like the piece, but because I already have numerous recordings of it, including two by Boult.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

Thanks John T! I'm going to have to look into all the Boult box sets and see which one I want to get.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Orfeo said:


> That's a hard one. If pressed, I'll go with Yevgeny Svetlanov. No one brought Russian music to the fore as much as (and as well as) Svetlanov, with some exceptions with Fedoseyev, Kondrashin, Golovanov, Khaikin, *Rozhdestvensky*, then Gergiev. His Tchaikovsky and Myaskovsky sets are special and I admire his Glazunov survey (beginning with Raymonda, still a great classic).
> 
> Then,
> 
> Leonard Bernstein is a close second (Mahler, the Americans), then comes Karajan (Bruckner, Strauss, Wagner), Wand (Bruckner, Schubert), Solti (Strauss' operas, Mahler), Schwarz (the Americans esp. Diamond, Hanson, Creston).


And *Neemi Jarvi* (how could I've forgotten this intrepid maestro).


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## John T (May 5, 2016)

CDs said:


> Thanks John T! I'm going to have to look into all the Boult box sets and see which one I want to get.


Happy hunting!


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## dieter (Feb 26, 2016)

Furtwangler, Klemperer, Kurt Sanderling. For Baroque and beyond, Diego Fasolis.


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## Martyn Harper (Jan 27, 2016)

Bernard Haitink. His Mahler, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams symphony cycles are all outstanding. I am currently listening to his Beethoven symphony cycle with the LSO live and it is like hearing the works for the first time -:so brilliantly realised. Everything he conducts is so well judged.


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> I'll do anything to appear peculiar, a trait we seem to share.


If you don't mind the question: Peculiar how? I don't think I've told anything odd up until yet.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Herrenvolk said:


> If you don't mind the question: Peculiar how? I don't think I've told anything odd up until yet.


I don't mind the question. I rather expected it.


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## ViatorDei (May 19, 2016)

*Günter Wand*

A humble, unpretentious man. With such perfection in his Bruckner that sometimes he surprises after listening to several different versions multiple times with how perfectly balanced and appropriate his interpretations and executions are. I have enormous respect for the man who I don't think gets the credit he deserves because he is not a showy personality.

So much for my favorite... *Furtwängler* blows me away almost every time with every piece. Unfortunately the inferior sound quality interferes at times with my enjoyment of his interpretations. Sometimes I feel like I am listening to the greatest performance ever of a piece, but through a straw. The joy is more intellectual than visceral.

*Haitink* has commanded my respect on numerous occasions, although I don't think I have any natural affinity with the conductor.

*Solti* is dear to me, although, he goes overboard so often and misses the mark that I often find myself calling him a beast...

*Bernstein* every now and then hits the ball out of the park, but for the most part I just get bewildered and exasperated with him blowing everything out of proportion.

*Karajan* very rarely succeeds in my book. I just think 'no, I'm sorry...' and wonder how he ever became so popular.

*Celibidache* is a whole different breed of conductor. Superb conductor, though his approach doesn't always work. When it does, however, it is truly an ecstatic experience.

Cheers,
Viator


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## dieter (Feb 26, 2016)

ViatorDei said:


> *Günter Wand*
> 
> A humble, unpretentious man. With such perfection in his Bruckner that sometimes he surprises after listening to several different versions multiple times with how perfectly balanced and appropriate his interpretations and executions are. I have enormous respect for the man who I don't think gets the credit he deserves because he is not a showy personality.
> 
> ...


This is so uncanny: It's exactly my reaction to the five conductors you name above. To a tee...


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> I don't mind the question. I rather expected it.


And the answer is... *drum rolls*


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Herrenvolk said:


> And the answer is... *drum rolls*


You guessed it!


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> You guessed it!


Ah, you're messing with my head. Thank you. Have a good day, Mr. Magic.


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

My all-time favorite?

Gergiev is my favorite living conductor.
Solti is the legend for me.


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## jaypee65 (Aug 24, 2015)

Weird...
I've seen "Marriner", "Ormandy"... but no Nikolaus Harnoncourt, no Pierre Boulez, no William Christie, no Ivan Fischer...


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

My favourites are: Sir Simon Rattle, Eliahu Inbal, Claudio Abbado, Sir Georg Solti, Eugene Ormandy, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Bernstein (great respect for this guy), Pierre Boulez, Otto Klemperer, Karl Böhm, Carlos Kleiber.

But the first place is reserved for Sir Colin Davis, and no other.


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