# Best opera conductor currently in activity and their main orchestras



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Who do you have?

Some conductors are tightly associated with their orchestras (e.g. Levine and the Met), while other orchestras like the Vienna Philharmoniker only have variable guest conductors, as is also the case with some festivals (but not others, e.g., Glyndebourne mostly gets the then main conductor of the London Philharmonic).

Also, we get some conductors with period orchestras like Christie and Gardiner, while others have general purpose orchestras like Levine and Pappano.

But in spite of these limitations, it will still be fun to vote for the best conductors/orchestras still in activity as far as opera is concerned.

Please vote above, or suggest others by posting.

[edit] Once started I can't change the poll entries unless I delete everything, but I probably shouldn't have included Jansons who rarely conducts opera.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Christian Thielemann and whatever opera he works with+Bayreuth?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

World Violist said:


> Christian Thielemann and whatever opera he works with+Bayreuth?


I remade the thread as a poll. Would you then vote for "other"?


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Almaviva said:


> I remade the thread as a poll. Would you then vote for "other"?


Oh, I don't know that combination, I was just making a suggestion, seeing as Thielemann seems to be becoming popular in Bayreuth.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Could you maybe make this a multiple-answer poll? It seems kinda odd to have to choose amongst companies that are exclusively period and companies that are basically bigger and therefore totally different... they operate on different premises and all that.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

What do you suggest, like vote for as many as you like? But I like them all.
I checked my tools, and I can edit the thread post or delete the thread but I can't modify the poll once it's started. So if we go for your suggestion I'll have to delete and restart a new one like you suggest.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Almaviva said:


> What do you suggest, like vote for as many as you like? But I like them all.
> I checked my tools, and I can edit the thread post or delete the thread but I can't modify the poll once it's started. So if we go for your suggestion I'll have to delete and restart a new one like you suggest.


Ok, nevermind then. I just wondered if you could without too much fuss. This is fine.

I'll just vote Christie.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I voted for Pappano.

But after seeing Dan Ettinger conduct Rigoletto last November I think he's a guy to look out for in the future.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

A tough one as many conductors specialise in different repertoire. However for me I will go for Pappano, although it was a close call between him and Bychkov. 

Jansons and Abbado I associate more with the concert hall, although I am aware of Abbado's stints in Milan and Vienna.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

If it was possible to make vote for a great master from the past : Tullio Serafin and La Scala Theater Orchestra. Of the conductors still in activity... well, James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

I voted for Valery Gergiev, because I find watching him conducting an opera in itself. In the past we had Leonard Bernstein jumping up at the height of the tension. With Gergiev it happens with his hands. For the most versatile all-rounder I would have voted for Antonio Pappano, who does also make nice programs for BBC Four on Opera.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jflatter said:


> A tough one as many conductors specialise in different repertoire. However for me I will go for Pappano, although it was a close call between him and Bychkov.
> 
> Jansons and Abbado I associate more with the concert hall, although I am aware of Abbado's stints in Milan and Vienna.


Yeah, you're right about Jansons. I did see him conducting opera a few times but it's rare, he probably shouldn't be in the poll, which is shown by the fact that he got no votes so far. Abbado on the other hand I'd keep; like you said, he has had enough stints in opera.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Il_Penseroso said:


> If it was possible to make vote for a great master from the past : Tullio Serafin and La Scala Theater Orchestra. Of the conductors still in activity... well, James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.


I thought of a poll for currently active conductors (Abbado however is almost out). Maybe we could do another one for those from the past, but they are so numerous that they might not fit the poll format.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

TxllxT said:


> I voted for Valery Gergiev, because I find watching him conducting an opera in itself. In the past we had Leonard Bernstein jumping up at the height of the tension. With Gergiev it happens with his hands. For the most versatile all-rounder I would have voted for Antonio Pappano, who does also make nice programs for BBC Four on Opera.


William Christie also has impressive hand movement when conduction. I really enjoy watching him, his style is very unusual and conveys the music perfectly.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I went with Tony Pappano and the ROH Orchestra, though I also have some wonderful recordings conducted by Abbado.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

All big name conductors listed. *None I dislike*, although my experience with each varies. I guess "best" actually means "favourite" for this poll. So it depends what period, genre etc. the operas one often listens and perhaps end up liking one or a few conductors.

I'll vote on the basis of being a standout on the genre that the conductor tend to specialise in, and doubt that others listed above could do a better job at it than him, namely Bill Christie, with John Eliot Gardiner, too. I'll give Christie my vote.

But none beats the hair-do of Mr Bouffant from The Met.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

They're all outstanding,and it's absolutely impossible to say that one is "the best". 
However,Jansons has done very little opera conducting in recent years,although I hear he
would like to do more, Several years ago,he conducted a widely acclaimed production in Amsterdam of 
"Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk District" by Shostakovich ,, a composer he is closely associated with.
I haven't seen the DVD,but would very much like to get it. It's supposed to be something quite special.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

superhorn said:


> They're all outstanding,and it's absolutely impossible to say that one is "the best".
> However,Jansons has done very little opera conducting in recent years,although I hear he
> would like to do more, Several years ago,he conducted a widely acclaimed production in Amsterdam of
> "Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk District" by Shostakovich ,, a composer he is closely associated with.
> I haven't seen the DVD,but would very much like to get it. It's supposed to be something quite special.


I have it. Yes, it is phenomenal, spectacular, incredible! One of the best opera DVD's I've ever seen. I was actually thinking of it when I included Jansons in the list.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Why did you place Gardiner with the Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique? Surely he is known far more for his efforts with the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir?

Where is Philippe Herreweghe?!

Where is Masaaki Suzuki?

Where is Sir Simon Rattle?

Vladimir who?

Antonio what?

Bertrand de Billy where?

James Levine... are you out of your f***in' mind?

Do any of these guys have even a single "essential" recording? That, to my mind, would seem to be the ultimate measure of the merit of a conductor. I might have somewhere near 100 discs conducted by Gardiner (maybe more... considering all of his efforts with Bach, Handel, Monteverdi, Brahms, Schumann, Mozart, etc...). I have a sizable slew by Christie... especially French Baroque... but a good deal of the baroque and classical era as a whole. Then there's Rene Jacobs and his recent efforts with Mozart's operas, Herreweghe, Gergiev... and what of Salonen... and Boulez?!!!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Why did you place Gardiner with the Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique? Surely he is known far more for his efforts with the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir?
> 
> Where is Philippe Herreweghe?!
> 
> ...


Goodness, keep your hair on!

Herreweghe - isn't he more of a sacred music conductor, with a couple of forays into Rameau and Lully? Not a biggie.

Suzuki? Did Bach write operas? I'd love to hear them.

Gergiev is on the list.

Pappano conducts at ROH, Levine at the Met. It would seem sensible to include them in a poll.

Rattle has done some studio recordings. I've never seen him on a DVD, unlike de Billy and Jurovsky.

Maybe some more conductors need to be added. Jacobs is certainly an omission and does stalwart and painstaking work. But it seems a reasonable starter list. Nothing to get too inflamed about:tiphat:.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

James Levine. At least his career is not based on sex appeal.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

mamascarlatti said:


> Pappano conducts at ROH, Levine at the Met. It would seem sensible to include them in a poll.


Um, yeah. Only the two most significant opera-houses in the English-speaking world. It's taken as a given that Levine revitalized the standard of orchestral playing at the MET- to the point that they're now credibly considered one of the top 20 orchestras on the planet. Hey, some of us heretics are willing to consider the possibility that (hearkening back to the days of Leopold Damrosch's 'Symphony-Society') the New York Philharmonic is once again the number two orchestra in New York.

Pappano did a top-shelf "reclamation project" at _La Monnaie_, and acquired his appointment at Covent Garden the old-fashioned way.


mamascarlatti said:


> Maybe some more conductors need to be added.


Haven't tried making a poll since going over to vB 4.+, but historically, there having been a finite number of options for polls. We *do* have the old standby "other, please specify in post" to cover all options.

If speaking historically, I'd say Solti & Covent Garden. [Let's face it- the guy could make a Youth Orchestra sound world-class]. If reflecting on "career value," I'd go with Levine. If considering the proposal "from this point henceforward," then I'd say Pappano.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Why did you place Gardiner with the Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique? Surely he is known far more for his efforts with the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir?
> 
> Where is Philippe Herreweghe?!
> 
> ...


Whoa! We all feel sorry for increasing the stress of your day. The point here is to have fun.

Regarding Sir Gardiner: while his Bach cantatas were with the English Baroque Soloists (if you noticed, I'm talking opera here, not cantatas), his major hits in opera DVD/Blu-ray which are the stapple of my opera collection - such as Les Troyens at the Chatelet and Antonacci's Carmen - were with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, although one of his best efforts that I also own, Le Nozze di Figaro, was indeed with the English Baroque Soloits. I could have included the latter (like I did for Abbado and Mutti). Unfortunately vBulletin doesn't provide an option to edit poll entries once they're published.

Jurowsky, Pappano, Levine - I think with all due respect that *you* are out of your mind (although I'd leave out the expletive) for not including in such a poll the conductors who have been conducting for the three most creative opera houses of the English speaking world: Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera.

de Billy: numerous operas recorded at the Liceu and elsewhere. I don't understand why you wouldn't include him.

Omissions like CTP said are covered by "others" - thanks for Jacobs and Boulez, but the latter is not a very frequent opera conductor as compared to his other output, although in addition to the Ring he has recorded operas by Schoenberg, Debussy, Berg, and Janacek. I guess I just think of Boulez as not being part of the *current* opera environment any longer; I was focusing on people and orchestras who have been prolific in churning out opera after opera. This list is focusing more on the current environment, thus the words "still in activity."


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

I'm not a big opera fan, but I like baroque opera and Christie is amazing.

I guess I'm behind the times, I thought that Levine left the MET for the BSO.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Oh no, health permitting, Levine continues to conduct opera regularly at the Met, and remains their music director.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

OK... I missed the key word "opera". I would still argue for Gardiner and definitely Jacobs and quite possibly Salonen. I would still argue that for me the ultimate standard by which any conductor must be measured (operatic or otherwise) would be his or her having produced a body of "essential" recordings. It is easy to point out any number of older conductors whose achievements are unquestionable: Karajan, Solti, Bohm, Klemperer, etc... Of course there is much to be said for the fact that Jurowsky, Pappano, Levine head up the three leading opera houses in the English-speaking world... but how important will that ultimately be if they can't record anything of canoniscal status? Levine has an extensive discography and I will admit to having more than one recording by him. Almost every one of these is because of the soloist involved (Rene Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Dawn Upshaw, Anne-Sophie Mutter. Where are his essential opera recordings?

Pappano at least has a few few opera recordings, especially his Massanet and Puccini with Alagna and Gheorghiu. 

And Jurowsky?

Now what of Gardiner? You mention his Berlioz. The one I have is certainly quite good. But I would add his Handel operas: Hercules, Agrippina, Semele, Acis and Galetea, Tamerlano, etc... (an oeuvre that grows even more impressive with the inclussion of his essential recordings of Handel's oratorios which are not far removed from being full-fledged operas. To this add Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and L'incoronazione di Poppea, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Stravinsky's The Rakes Progress, Purcell's Faerie Queene, several Gluck operas, and a good number of other recordings.

William Christie, by comparison, has recorded masterful performances of Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, Mozart's Magic Flute, Charpentier: La Descente d'Orphee aux Enfers and Medee, Handel's Acina, Lully's Attys, Rameau's Pygmalion and Les Indes Galantes, and any number of other Baroque operas... especially French.

And Rene Jacobs? His Mozart recordings have been argued by many as reviving Mozart: Die Zauberflote, Le nozze di Figaro, Idomeneo, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, La clemenza di Tito... all essential recordings. Add to this his Handel Julius Ceasar and Rinaldo, and his recent stunning recital with Bejun Mehta, his Orpheus and Euridice by Gluck, and again several more recordings... mostly Baroque.

Or perhaps the Baroque is not worthy of recognition when it comes to opera?

This leads me to the question: Where are the great opera conductors of today? Jurowsky, Pappano, and Levine cannot begin to compete with Gardiner, Suzuki, Christie, and Herreweghe... especially if we consider their oeuvre outside of opera as well. Would anyone seriously argue that they are "great" opera conductors in comparison with Karajan, Klemperer, Bohm, Solti, etc...?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

StLukes, I don't understand what your beef with this thread is all about. Gardiner *is* there, just, I failed to include one of his two usual orchestras for opera, and said that I should have included it, but can't edit the poll. Sorry if I didn't include his other one, it's dully noted, can we move on please? William Christie *is* there. How exactly does this make you conclude that we're not paying attention to baroque opera, when we quoted the two leading specialists of this repertory???

So, Levine has no essential opera recordings? You may want to check this:

 
Just there you find 11 historic performances on 32 CDs. And last time I checked, DVDs and Blu-rays are also recordings, of which he's got many, many, many. Dozens and dozens.

Jurowski among others has recorded Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi, Russalka, Werther, Die Fledermaus, La Cenerentola, Hamlet, Boris Godunov, Le Prophète, L'Africaine, Eugene Onegin, Pique Dame, The Miserly Knight, and Hansel und Gretchel; he is very young and will certainly record a lot more in his future career, and in my humble opinion, he did a good job with his existing recordings and deserves to be in this poll. But you know, if he doesn't get any votes, that's OK, like I said, this is just for fun and we don't pretend that a simple thread like this is to be authoritative.

Jacobs has also been duly noted as an omission, thank you for reminding me. Somehow, though, people don't seem to have flocked to the "other" category in order to cast votes for him.

"Where are the great opera conductors of today? Jurowsky, Pappano, and Levine cannot begin to compete with Gardiner, Suzuki, Christie, and Herreweghe... "

Again, Gardiner and Christie were included. About Suzuki and Herrewege, I'm not so sure if they should be there in a 10-item poll. But sure, feel free to add them to the "others" category. As for this: "especially if we consider their oeuvre outside of opera as well," like you failed to realize on the occasion of your first post and seems to continue to do so, this thread is about opera (not only the title, but the placement of the thread in the opera forum might have given you a clue). No, we should *not* in a thread about opera conducting give anybody more prominence thanks to their concert hall conducting. Opera is a different animal and involves, for one, letting the singers have a chance without smothering them, and giving them some freedom as far as tempo, voice agility, and completion of the musical phrase goes. If we start a thread about opera conducting, it makes absolutely no sense to vote for some conductors based on their other pursuits.

Certainly it was a blunder to include Jansons and leave out Jacobs and I have already acknowledge it, but other than that, like others here said, it's a good start, and the exercise just intended to spark some fun. Like Natalie said, no need to get all inflammed about it.

"Would anyone seriously argue that they are "great" opera conductors in comparison with Karajan, Klemperer, Bohm, Solti, etc...?" Have you, in addition to missing the word 'opera' in the thread title, also missed the words 'still in activity?'

Buddy, you want to start your own thread and poll about the all-time best opera conductors to include the above, or concert hall conductors, or CD-recording conductors, be my guest and do it, but don't criticize the limited scope of this thread since it was fully spelled out there for you to read it. If you don't approve of this thread given its limited scope, then, don't click on it, the title is visible without the need to click on the thread. Most of your criticism stems from not reading the thread title (or for not even reading who is there, as in when you criticized the poll for not including Gergiev), so, next time, please do before you jump on us like this.

If this sounds harsh, it is certainly a lot less harsh than your use of an expletive in your first post here.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Alma... I admitted Levine has recorded numerous operas... and other works. Indeed his discography numbers in the 100s. But I question that they are "essential" recordings. Is Levine the first... or second... or third... etc... name that comes to mind if you were seeking a recording of the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Salome, Elektra, The Magic Flute, le nozze di Figaro, etc... etc... ? I can't think of any opera for which he would be the first choice... or one of the top choices... although I could be wrong... especially considering that jhar, who is one well-versed opera fanatic, voted for him. 

I admitted that I missed the key word "opera" and that Suzuki and Herreweghe (and any number of other conductors) are certainly removed from the running as a result. I assure you that I did read the rest of the post and and noted that William Christie and Gergiev were included (Christie would have been my second choice. Gergiev I find quite thrilling... but will admit to having but heard a scant few of his operatic recordings.). My only question concerning Gardiner was the notion of pairing him with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique which would seem to ignore his far greater wealth of recordings... including operatic recordings... with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Monteverdi Choir. I still think that one cannot ignore Boulez operatic efforts, but obviously you can only fit in so many.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Alma... I admitted Levine has recorded numerous operas... and other works. Indeed his discography numbers in the 100s. But I question that they are "essential" recordings. Is Levine the first... or second... or third... etc... name that comes to mind if you were seeking a recording of the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Salome, Elektra, The Magic Flute, le nozze di Figaro, etc... etc... ? I can't think of any opera for which he would be the first choice... or one of the top choices... although I could be wrong... especially considering that jhar, who is one well-versed opera fanatic, voted for him.


I voted for Levine primarily for the reason already mentionned by somebody else on this thread: When he started at the Met it's orchestra was by international standards - and certainly for a house with that reputation - rather mediocre. He made it one of the top opera orchestras in the world. True, his recordings of the operas you mention are not first choice picks. But since he concentrates on the core repertoire and thus on operas that have been done countless times before throughout recording history he has virtually all the all time greats to compete with. A guy like Gergiev for example is most famous for his recordings of rarely recorded Russian operas and because of the comparitive lack of competition in this field it's thus more likely for him to be among the top choices for Rimsky-Korsakov or Prokofiev opera recordings. The baroque conductors - wonderful though they may be, have only competition from contemporaries or near-contemporaries because up until, say, 25 or 30 years ago recordings of baroque operas were comparitively rare and the few that there were pre-HIP now more often than not sound hopelessly old fashionned and inappropriate. Even now there are only a few recordings of most Handel, Rameau, Purcell or Lully operas.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Alma... I admitted Levine has recorded numerous operas... and other works. Indeed his discography numbers in the 100s. But I question that they are "essential" recordings. Is Levine the first... or second... or third... etc... name that comes to mind if you were seeking a recording of the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Salome, Elektra, The Magic Flute, le nozze di Figaro, etc... etc... ? I can't think of any opera for which he would be the first choice... or one of the top choices... although I could be wrong... especially considering that jhar, who is one well-versed opera fanatic, voted for him.
> 
> I admitted that I missed the key word "opera" and that Suzuki and Herreweghe (and any number of other conductors) are certainly removed from the running as a result. I assure you that I did read the rest of the post and and noted that William Christie and Gergiev were included (Christie would have been my second choice. Gergiev I find quite thrilling... but will admit to having but heard a scant few of his operatic recordings.). My only question concerning Gardiner was the notion of pairing him with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique which would seem to ignore his far greater wealth of recordings... including operatic recordings... with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Monteverdi Choir. I still think that one cannot ignore Boulez operatic efforts, but obviously you can only fit in so many.


I just don't think that you can limit this poll to what conducters have done with essential recordings. I usually go to either an opera or a concert once a month and there are experiences that I will carry with me from those efforts that would help formulate my vote. Furthermore what you have to remember is that record companies are not ploughing money into opera recordings like they used to. So in many ways the contemporary conducters stand at a disadvantage. For example, it seems very unlikely that there will ever be a studio recording with international artists of the Ring Cycle. Gergiev may do it with the Mariinsky but if it is the same quality as the live performances I wouldn't waste my money.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Alma... I admitted Levine has recorded numerous operas... and other works. Indeed his discography numbers in the 100s. But I question that they are "essential" recordings. Is Levine the first... or second... or third... etc... name that comes to mind if you were seeking a recording of the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Salome, Elektra, The Magic Flute, le nozze di Figaro, etc... etc... ? I can't think of any opera for which he would be the first choice... or one of the top choices... although I could be wrong... especially considering that jhar, who is one well-versed opera fanatic, voted for him.
> 
> I admitted that I missed the key word "opera" and that Suzuki and Herreweghe (and any number of other conductors) are certainly removed from the running as a result. I assure you that I did read the rest of the post and and noted that William Christie and Gergiev were included (Christie would have been my second choice. Gergiev I find quite thrilling... but will admit to having but heard a scant few of his operatic recordings.). My only question concerning Gardiner was the notion of pairing him with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique which would seem to ignore his far greater wealth of recordings... including operatic recordings... with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Monteverdi Choir. I still think that one cannot ignore Boulez operatic efforts, but obviously you can only fit in so many.


What you continue to miss (I'm quite amazed at it, by now) is that when you consider Levine's competition for each individual opera that you're quoting and for most of the core operatic repertory, his competition is dead or retired. The poll, I repeat, was for opera conductors *still in activity* for Pete's sake! How do you disqualify someone from running for best operatic conductor *still in activity* by comparing him to people who are dead??? Compare him to others who are still in activity (like I did in my poll) and you'll see that he holds his own, for the various reasons already mentioned by others here. But like I said, you want to make a poll of the all-time best opera conductors, be my guest, do it, but then, *it will be a different poll.* This is not the poll I called for, so, why are you still insisting on this? In my humble opinion, even in that kind of poll Levine would deserve a mention, although I wouldn't vote for him (I didn't even vote for him here in this poll).

"I assure you that I did read the rest of the post and and noted that William Christie and *Gergiev *were included"

You did??? So why on Earth did you say this:

"Then there's Rene Jacobs and his recent efforts with Mozart's operas, Herreweghe, *Gergiev*... and what of Salonen... and Boulez?!!!"

Make up your mind, buddy. If you complain on a post that Gergiev was not included but then say you had noticed that Gergiev *was* included, one gets a little confused about what you mean.

For the *third* time, sorry that I didn't include all orchestras that have had the honor to play under Sir Gardiner's baton. The poll didn't intend to be an exhaustive and encyclopedic list of those orchestras, and yes, I *am* familiar with his work with other orchestras, just, while writing up the options they didn't occur to me, just like I forgot Jacobs, for the simple fact that I had in mind two of his best efforts in my opinion, both with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (by the way, the Monteverdi Choir was also part of that Les Troyens I'm talking about, with the ORR). For the *third* time, sorry for this omission. Next time I do a poll like this, I'll make sure to include for each conductor a list of 10 or 15 orchestras they have conducted. It will take me a while to dig them all out, but if this is what will make you happy, I promise that I'll try. Happy now? Oh, I also forgot to type the ) after Glyndebourne, and mispelled Riccardo Muti's last name, stupid me. I obviously am doing very poorly here, I don't understand why you didn't comment on these two other blatant mistakes.

Boulez would have been included in case of a focus on the past history of opera recordings. The poll intended to highlight those opera conductors in full present operatic activity (although Abbado thanks to his ill health is on his way out, like I said). But sure, Boulez has recorded opera as recently as in the late 2000's so yes, it was an omission, which I have acknowledged already, and have explained why his name initially didn't occur to me. Gee! But if you insist, maybe it's just because I'm ignorant of opera; fine, I probably have never heard of Boulez's opera recordings (funny, if you browse my posting history in this very forum you'll be able to read some of my reviews of his opera recordings - just to mention three recent cases that I remember from the top of my head, Moses und Aron, From the House of the Dead, and Pelléas et Mélisande, not to forget the various posts about the Ring).

Maybe you should redo this poll and do a better job, I obviously can't, and you have spoiled my fun anyway, so, take over if you want.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

OK, trying to be in a better mood.

Maybe we should try to revise this whole thing. I've asked Krummhorn if there is a way to edit polls (I've seen him doing it at the time of the older version of vBulletin, or maybe it's a capacity that he's got as Administrator and I don't as moderator). If there isn't, if you guys feel like it, we could delete this thread and start a new poll (although I particularly don't see what's the big deal, these polls are just done for fun, but anyway).]

The current version of vBulletin allows a poll to have 15 entries.

So, who should we list? I repeat, the poll is for people still alive and active.

I'd keep all of the above minus Jansons, and would add Jacobs and Boulez, this makes it 11, or 12 if we want to keep the "others" category. So, there's space in my list to three more. I think I'd say Kent Nagano (always very good performances, long stint with Opéra de Lyon, currently at Bavarian Staastoper, also with LA Opera and the Salzburg festival - a bigger omission in my opinion than some of the ones quoted before), Riccardo Chailly (although doing less and less opera for a good while), and I'm having trouble selecting the last one - Mehta and Maazel I don't like, there's Kazushi Ono, James Conlon, Andrew Davis (talking about Davis, Colin Davis is still alive, but retired as far as I know), Jesús Lopez-Cobos (also on his way out), Seiji Ozawa (Vienna Staatsoper and Tokyo but struggling with esophageal cancer, also literally on his way out), Emmanuelle Haïm (still with a short career, same case for Christophe Rousset), there's Marc Minkowski if you guys want even more baroque... who else am I forgetting? Simon Rattle in spite of very rare opera recordings and even rarer opera house appearances? In this case I'd have to put Jansons back. There is young promise up-and-coming Yannick Nézet-Séguin, also probably too early to tell although he does have experience at Opéra de Montreal and his two Met operas, Carmen and Don Carlo, were both outstanding, but now with the Rotterdam Philharmonic he'll probably be doing more concert hall than opera.

Oh, and I'd forget about orchestras, it just makes it a lot more complicated since many of these conductors have migrated from one orchestra to the other, like some of the examples in the above paragraph. I'd just list the conductors for the poll.

What would be your list of 14 or 15 *current* opera conductors if we want to redo this poll?


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

What about these other outstanding opera (and orchestral) conductors ?

Riccardo Chailly. James Conlon. Christoph von Dohnanyi. Sir Colin Davis. Sir Andrew Davis.
Sir Mark Elder. Daniele Gatti. Marek Janowski. Fabio Luisi. Lorin Maazel. Zubin Mehta.
Donald Runnicles . Frfanz Welser-Most. All have done a lot distinguished work in opera.


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> Oh no, health permitting, Levine continues to conduct opera regularly at the Met, and remains their music director.


Oh that's good! I love his Don Giovanni with Terfel and Fleming. Great costumes, great singing, excellent playing.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

superhorn said:


> What about these other outstanding opera (and orchestral) conductors ?
> 
> Riccardo Chailly. James Conlon. Christoph von Dohnanyi. Sir Colin Davis. Sir Andrew Davis.
> Sir Mark Elder. Daniele Gatti. Marek Janowski. Fabio Luisi. Lorin Maazel. Zubin Mehta.
> Donald Runnicles . Frfanz Welser-Most. All have done a lot distinguished work in opera.




I think I just heard Alma implode


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> ...I could be wrong... especially considering that jhar, who is one well-versed opera fanatic, voted for him.


Quoted as worthy of repetition, plus it also gives me the opportunity to praise a well-considered sentence fragment.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Chi_townPhilly said:


> Quoted as worthy of repetition, plus it also gives me the opportunity to praise a well-considered sentence fragment.


Thanks for the compliment, but my opinions don't carry any more weight than those of the other 'opera fanatics' here and we can count ourselves lucky that we have quite a few of those at Talk Classical.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

At least no one seems to have mentioned Nikolaus Harnoncourt. That dude and his quirky interpretations can sometimes be annoying -- as though he's trying to be different for the simple sake of being different.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

MAuer said:


> At least no one seems to have mentioned Nikolaus Harnoncourt. That dude and his quirky interpretations can sometimes be annoying -- as though he's trying to be different for the simple sake of being different.


Trying to figure out why the actual posting shows "interpretations" twice, when the preview screen doesn't . . .


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> I think I just heard Alma implode


Why? I had actually quoted many of these before - Chailly, Colon, Andrew Davis, Colin Davis, Maazel, Mehta. And I asked for more. The problem is, if we redo the poll there is only space for 14+1 category for others, or 15 if we do away with others. What rattled me was more St.Luke's tone than his content.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Alma... I admitted Levine has recorded numerous operas... and other works. Indeed his discography numbers in the 100s. But I question that they are "essential" recordings. Is Levine the first... or second... or third... etc... name that comes to mind if you were seeking a recording of the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Salome, Elektra, The Magic Flute, le nozze di Figaro, etc... etc... ? I can't think of any opera for which he would be the first choice... or one of the top choices... although I could be wrong... especially considering that jhar, who is one well-versed opera fanatic, voted for him.
> 
> I admitted that I missed the key word "opera" and that Suzuki and Herreweghe (and any number of other conductors) are certainly removed from the running as a result. I assure you that I did read the rest of the post and and noted that William Christie and Gergiev were included (Christie would have been my second choice. Gergiev I find quite thrilling... but will admit to having but heard a scant few of his operatic recordings.). My only question concerning Gardiner was the notion of pairing him with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique which would seem to ignore his far greater wealth of recordings... including operatic recordings... with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Monteverdi Choir. I still think that one cannot ignore Boulez operatic efforts, but obviously you can only fit in so many.


Typo there of course: English Baroque Soloists.

I agree with your point about Mr Bouffant and the Met, as much as I have many recordings of their opera productions, including Wagner's complete _Ring_ (which is the only one I got, does an adequate job for me, for now).

I agree with your choice, which I wrote in my post (#16) putting both Christie and Gardiner on par, and I happened to click Christie here because we could opt for one "favourite/best". Essentially, I wrote the exact point as you did: "... _I'll vote on the basis of being a standout on the genre that the conductor tend to specialise in, and doubt that others listed above could do a better job at it than him_", which Mr Bouffant, while generally very good indeed, often tend to have other conductors producing "better" versions of the works. This by all means is not to bash him at all, as I often enjoy his interpretations and the premium record label _Deutsche Grammophon_/Decca/Universal have released a lot on DVD/blu-ray etc.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Typo there of course: English Baroque Soloists.
> 
> I agree with your point about Mr Bouffant and the Met, as much as I have many recordings of their opera productions, including Wagner's complete _Ring_ (which is the only one I got, does an adequate job for me, for now).
> 
> I agree with your choice, which I wrote in my post (#16) putting both Christie and Gardiner on par, and I happened to click Christie here because we could opt for one "favourite/best". Essentially, I wrote the exact point as you did: "... _I'll vote on the basis of being a standout on the genre that the conductor tend to specialise in, and doubt that others listed above could do a better job at it than him_", which Mr Bouffant, while generally very good indeed, often tend to have other conductors producing "better" versions of the works. This by all means is not to bash him at all, as I often enjoy his interpretations and the premium record label _Deutsche Grammophon_/Decca/Universal have released a lot on DVD/blu-ray etc.


I voted for Christie too. It's strange that Gardiner got only one vote so far.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Why? I had actually quoted many of these before - Chailly, Colon, Andrew Davis, Colin Davis, Maazel, Mehta. And I asked for more. The problem is, if we redo the poll there is only space for 14+1 category for others, or 15 if we do away with others. What rattled me was more St.Luke's tone than his content.


:lol: It's alright, Almaviva. Cool it. We all love opera, and we all admire Christie, Gardiner, Levine/Mr Bouffant, Jacobs and many others. We are extremely fortunate today to have all these great operas under their direction released on DVD/CD/blu-ray at reasonable prices, which only one generation before us, would not have. Lucky us!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

*OK, folks, let's see if we can rescue this thread*

I was in a terrible mood yesterday (due to some unrelated problems) and shouldn't have been that mad at StLukes. Since I can't edit the poll entries (CTP can), we'll do it by posting, if there is still interest (if there isn't, the thread will just die on its own). Anyway, even with editing the poll, we'd only have 15 entries, so if we want to be all-inclusive, the only way to do it is through posting.

*Let's see if we can redo this poll just using posts, and voting post by post from now on (people can just copy and paste the pool and add their votes):*

*I'll retype and list the votes as they stand now; but given that there will be more options, if someone wants to change a previous vote (as long as it's the person's own vote) feel free to do so (please explain what you're doing). The one person who has voted "other" in the previous poll has now an opportunity to cast a vote for whoeve "other" the person had in mind:*

*Best *OPERA* conductors *still alive and still in activity* (Sir Colin Davis for instance qualifies for the first condition but not for the second, as far as I know)*

*Name - votes*

*William Christie - 5*
*James Levine - 3*
*Antonio Pappano - 5*
*John Eliot Gardiner - 1*
*Valery Gergiev - 2*
*Vladimir Jurowsky - 0*
*Claudio Abbado - 2*
*Bertrand de Billy - 0*
*Riccardo Muti - 0*
*Rene Jacobs - 0*
*Pierre Boulez - 0*
*Kent Nagano - 0*
*Zubin Mehta - 0*
*Lorin Maazel - 0*
*Kazushi Ono - 0*
*James Conlon - 0*
*Andrew Davis - 0*
*Jesus Lopez-Cobos - 0*
*Seiji Ozawa - 0*
*Emmanuelle Haim - 0*
*Christophe Rousset - 0*
*Marc Minkowski - 0*
*Yannick Nézet-Séguin - 0*
*Christoph von Dohnányi - 0*
*Mark Elder - 0*
*Danielle Gatti - 0*
*Marek Janowski - 0*
*Fabio Luisi - 0*
*Donald Runnicles - 0*
*Frfanz Welser-Most - 0*
*Nikolaus Harnoncourt - 0*

I haven't checked the status of alive and active for all of the above guys, I assume that's what they are if our members here have quoted them while being aware of the parameters of the poll. Certainly all of the ones I've mentioned are alive and active. But Dohnányi for instance is 83 years old. Is he still active? Anyway, I'll trust whoever mentioned these names.

So, feel free to copy and paste from now on and add to the votes (or like I said, modify your previous vote if you are more satisfied with a new option) - and feel free to add other names if you feel like it (this should take care of the *others* argument).

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Another option would be to wipe out all the votes so far, and start again with the above list, giving people the opportunity to vote for more than one (3, maybe?). Let me know if this is what you want to do.

If this doesn't go any further, then we'll just be content with Christie and Pappano being the two current opera conductors most supported by our members.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Wow, I looked up Dohnányi to see if he's still conducting, and apparently he is planning to conduct one year more until the end of the 2011-2012 season (at age 84). And I learned that his second wife was the delicious and pretty Anja Silja. Lucky guy.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> :lol: It's alright, Almaviva. Cool it. We all love opera, and we all admire Christie, Gardiner, Levine/Mr Bouffant, Jacobs and many others. We are extremely fortunate today to have all these great operas under their direction released on DVD/CD/blu-ray at reasonable prices, which only one generation before us, would not have. Lucky us!


I know, I'm cool today. It was yesterday that I was in a terrible mood. If you haven't noticed, I'm moody sometimes. I'm pretty friendly most of the time, but sometimes, beware, don't mess with me!
:lol:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> I know, I'm cool today. It was yesterday that I was in a terrible mood. If you haven't noticed, I'm moody sometimes. I'm pretty friendly most of the time, but sometimes, beware, don't mess with me!
> :lol:


If he gets a wet fish out you gotta really worry.









I'm still picking scales out of my hair.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

mamascarlatti said:


> If he gets a wet fish out you gotta really worry.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

World Violist said:


>


Hehe, this whole wet fish slapping thing started when Annie posted this at Alma!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

When I'm in a good mood, like today, slapping me with a wet fish doesn't work. I get it, fry it, and eat it.


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## Moscow-Mahler (Jul 8, 2010)

What about Johannes Debus and Toronto opera?


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## slowjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

Moscow-Mahler said:


> What about Johannes Debus and Toronto opera?


i don't know him too


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