# If You Could Only Save Five Conductors for Humanity?



## StlukesguildOhio

Riffing off the the thread, _If You Could Only Save 5 Composers for Humanity?_ if you could only save the recorded oeuvre of 5 conductors, who would they be... and why?


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## Pugg

Sir George Solti for his Wagner and Strauss , to start with.
Riccardo Muti fur his also outstanding conducting like,Verdi's amongst all.
Leonard Bernstein, love him or load him, excellent conducter.
Herbert von Karajan, do I nee to say more?
Richard Bonynge; the only one conductor who shook up the entire Bel canto repertoire with his beloved wife: _Dame Joan Sutherland _


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## R3PL4Y

Obviously Karajan, for Bruckner, Beethoven and Sibelius
Bernstein, for Mahler (among others)
Mravinsky, for all Russian music
Solti
Kubelik


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## Strange Magic

This may be--no, probably is--heresy, but over the decades Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia provided clear and non-idiosyncratic readings of just about everything that they recorded. Mind you, the recorded Columbia sound left much to be desired. I also favor Bernstein, Reiner, Boulez for his Bartok, and Dorati. That's 5, but Ormandy would be my all-around first choice.


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## Tsaraslondon

Pugg said:


> Richard Bonynge; the only one conductor who shook up the entire Bel canto repertoire with his beloved wife: _Dame Joan Sutherland _


Really? I think both Bonynge and his wife acknowledged the debt they owed to someone else, whose existence you continually try to ignore.


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## Delicious Manager

Claudio Abbado
Charles Mackerrras
Yevgeni Mravinsky
Kurt Sanderling
Osmo Vänskä


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## Tsaraslondon

Really tricky, because there are so many conductors I like in some repertory but not so much in others, but, if pressed, I'd go for.

Herbert von Karajan (like him or hate him, his preeminence in post World War II music is unignorable, and the breadth of his repertoire was wide).
Sir Colin Davis (for his championing of Berlioz, if nothing else) 
Yevgeni Mravinsky (for Russian repertoire)
Sir John Barbirolli (I could never be without his Elgar)
and, finally, 
Tullio Serafin (who first recognised and nurtured the genius that was Maria Callas).


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## hpowders

Charles Munch.
Leonard Bernstein.
Eugene Ormandy.
Sir Colin Davis.
Arturo Toscanini.
Otto Klemperer.

Sorry. I could not limit it to only five.


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## Becca

GregMitchell said:


> Really tricky, because there are so many conductors I like in some repertory but not so much in others, but, if pressed, I'd go for.
> 
> Herbert von Karajan (like him or hate him, his preeminence in post World War II music is unignorable, and the breadth of his repertoire was wide).
> Sir Colin Davis (for his championing of Berlioz, if nothing else)
> Yevgeni Mravinsky (for Russian repertoire)
> Sir John Barbirolli (I could never be without his Elgar)
> and, finally,
> Tullio Serafin (who first recognised and nurtured the genius that was Maria Callas).


This comes the closest to my listen but I'd be loathe to be without Otto Klemperer but I'm not sure who I would squeeze out for him ... perhaps Mravinsky?


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## Tsaraslondon

Becca said:


> This comes the closest to my listen but I'd be loathe to be without Otto Klemperer but I'm not sure who I would squeeze out for him ... perhaps Mravinsky?


It's a tough one. In terms of repertoire, Karajan has most of Klemperer's covered, so I'm sticking with Mravinsky.


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## isorhythm

Klemperer (duh)
Karajan (for his first Beethoven and some other stuff)
Bernstein (for Mahler and various Americans)
Boulez (for everything)
Herreweghe (for Baroque)


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## elgar's ghost

Benjamin Britten - I can't be without Britten's operas and the man himself recorded most of them of which the results are often considered definitive.

Bernstein - did the Mahler cycle not once but twice and managed great things in both, and then there are the recordings of his own works and those of other American composers.

Latham-König- unsung, but did a much-needed series of Weill's German stage works for Capriccio label and earns extra points for being the only conductor to record Hindemith's brilliant opera _Neues vom Tage_.

Gergiev - his orchestral recordings divide opinion but the series of recordings his did on Philips with the Kirov did Russian opera (and those of Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev in particular) a great service.

Boulez - not just the recordings of much of his own work but those of Berg/Schoenberg/Webern/Stravinsky/Messiaen etc.


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## bz3

Solti
Karajan
Mravkinsky
Gardiner

The last one is a tough one. Kubelik, Bernstein, and Haitink are all right there for various composers that I like them for. But since Kubelik is my favorite among those 3 for Mahler and I'm not so much a Solti/Mahler fan, I will say him.


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## ArtMusic

Christopher Hogwood
Alan Curtis
Masaaki Suzuki
Rene Jacobs
John Eliot Gardiner

They are/were great conductors and scholars of my favorite composers. Pure and simple.


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## MarkW

Toscanini
Furtwangler
Haitinck
Barbirolli
?


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## Boldertism

Gardiner
Klemperer
Bernstein
Karajan
I couldn't say


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## shadowdancer

Toscanini
Furtwangler
Mravinsky
Bruno Walter
Bernstein


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## Haydn man

Dorati for his Haydn
Marriner for his Mozart and British music
Karajan for all the Germanic stuff 
Davis for Sibelius and the rest
Bernstein for variety


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## StlukesguildOhio

1. Herbert von Karajan
2. John Eliot Gardiner
3. John Barbirolli
4. René Jacobs
5. Jordi Savall

The closest runners-up would include:

6. Leonard Bernstein
7. William Christie
8. George Szell
9. Harry Christophers
10. Ernest Ansermet/Jean Martinon/Charles Munch

Obviously, I am quite fond of music that falls outside of the usual Romantic/Post-Romantic/Modern realm... not that I don't like that as well.


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## Überstürzter Neumann

Wilhelm Furtwängler
Herbert von Karajan
Günter Wand
Stanisław Skrowaczewski
Nikolaus Harnoncourt


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## dsphipps100

Pugg said:


> Sir George Solti for his Wagner and Strauss , to start with.
> Riccardo Muti fur his also outstanding conducting like,Verdi's amongst all.
> Leonard Bernstein, love him or load him, excellent conducter.
> Herbert von Karajan, do I nee to say more?
> Richard Bonynge; the only one conductor who shook up the entire Bel canto repertoire with his beloved wife: _Dame Joan Sutherland _


This is exactly the same list I would post, except I would switch out Richard Bonynge for Bernard Haitink. Otherwise, hear, hear!


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## Ilarion

Lets see now:

Gergiev
Solti
Masaako Suzuki
Karajan
Nikolai Golovanov


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## jdec

Karajan 
Bernstein 
Abbado 
Solti
Mahler (this would also ensure that we save Mahler the composer for humanity)


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## Pugg

dsphipps100 said:


> This is exactly the same list I would post, except I would switch out Richard Bonynge for Bernard Haitink. Otherwise, hear, hear!


I was aloud only five


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## fluteman

Harnoncourt for Bach; Marriner for Mozart and Haydn; Walter for Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler; Munch for Debussy and Ravel; and Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky. As an epilogue, George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, conducted by Arthur Weisberg, or perhaps Holst's Neptune conducted by Adrian Boult.


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## dsphipps100

Pugg said:


> I was aloud only five


Well then, I've still got four to go.


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## tdc

StlukesguildOhio said:


> John Eliot Gardiner
> René Jacobs
> Jordi Savall


Nice choices there. All three would be contenders for me, though I'm yet undecided as to whether Gardiner is really my go-to guy for large scale Bach, or if I prefer Herreweghe, or maybe Suzuki.

I'm just not confident in a top 5 conductors at the moment. I think in the future both Chailly and Antoni Wit will be well regarded.


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## StDior

Rattle, Jansons, Bohm, Gardiner, René Jacobs (H.M.: Abbado, Harnoncourt, Leppard, Svetlanov)


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## ArtMusic

I would also add Howard Griffiths.


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## StlukesguildOhio

I'm yet undecided as to whether Gardiner is really my go-to guy for large scale Bach, or if I prefer Herreweghe, or maybe Suzuki.

I would choose Gardiner over Herreweghe and Suzuki (although I quite like all three) in part due to his larger and broader repertoire of recordings which include, as well as Bach, great recordings of Monteverdi, Beethoven's symphonies and choral works, Brahms' German Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, a brilliant rendering of Schumann's symphonies, Gluck, Mozart's piano concertos and operas, Handel, Vivaldi, Berlioz, etc... Gardiner and Herreweghe strike me as near equals when it comes to Bach's choral works... although Herreweghe has't recorded the whole. Suzuki has recorded the whole of the cantatas, but as much as I like them as alternatives, I prefer Gardiner's less glassy & polished style (more "muscular") and both he and Herreweghe win out when the singers are taken into consideration.


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## SalieriIsInnocent

In choosing, I'm going by sheer volume of work with quality in mind. There are some great conductors that I feel just haven't put out enough. 

Trevor Pinnock - Best combination of period conductor, and keyboardist
Herbert von Karajan - His recording legacy is tremendous
Sir Georg Solti - Mahler and Wagner!
Jos van Immerseel - similar to Pinnock, but I feel he's more like the Karajan of the period orchestra world.
James Levine - I've never been disappointed by his conducting, and I don't think he falls into a distinct style. You can't listen and say "Oh, that's definitely Levine"


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## Muse Wanderer

Otto Klemperer
The recordings he put out are outstanding. He brings out every nuance from the works he conducts. I listened to his Eroica yesterday and was completely blown away. Klemperer also uses an antiphonal arrangement of the high strings as he splits the two violin groups one on the left and the other on the right as it used to be done in the past. The effect on the sound and the music is fantastic. It is a shame most other conductors keep the violins on the left side. 

Mazaka Suzuki 
Humanity needs Bach, lots of it, I would say all of it. Can't go wrong with Suzuki. I adore his Cantata cycle and so should all of humanity... eventually.

Neville Marriner
Do we want a bit of Mozart, or shall we say most of it? Marriner is king. His Schubert symphony cycle is also top notch. 

George Solti
We need his Wagner, don't we? He also brings lots of other composers within the mix.

Pierre Boulez 
A modern twist with Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, Webern, Wagner 

Runners up: Jordi Savall (perfection), Bernstein (vast reportoire but adds too much of his own colour), Herreweghe (his St Matthew's Passion is stunning), Jochum (Bruckner, Brahms), Gardiner (cantatas, Beethoven), the Kleibers (Figaro, Beethoven 5th).


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## dieter

Muse Wanderer said:


> Otto Klemperer
> The recordings he put out are outstanding. He brings out every nuance from the works he conducts. I listened to his Eroica yesterday and was completely blown away. Klemperer also uses an antiphonal arrangement of the high strings as he splits the two violin groups one on the left and the other on the right as it used to be done in the past. The effect on the sound and the music is fantastic. It is a shame most other conductors keep the violins on the left side.
> 
> Mazaka Suzuki
> Humanity needs Bach, lots of it, I would say all of it. Can't go wrong with Suzuki. I adore his Cantata cycle and so should all of humanity... eventually.
> 
> Neville Marriner
> Do we want a bit of Mozart, or shall we say most of it? Marriner is king. His Schubert symphony cycle is also top notch.
> 
> George Solti
> We need his Wagner, don't we? He also brings lots of other composers within the mix.
> 
> Pierre Boulez
> A modern twist with Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, Webern, Wagner
> 
> Runners up: Jordi Savall (perfection), Bernstein (vast reportoire but adds too much of his own colour), Herreweghe (his St Matthew's Passion is stunning), Jochum (Bruckner, Brahms), Gardiner (cantatas, Beethoven), the Kleibers (Figaro, Beethoven 5th).


Peculiar mix. I can't see that if you like Klemperer who was anything but bland that you'd like Marriner who is blandness personified.
My list would be:

Furtwangler
Klemperer
Kurt Sanderling
Diego Fasolis
Harnoncourt.

That's today. Tomorrow I might like Inbal, Skrowaszewski, Jochum, Barbirolli and Bernstein for anything BUT Mahler.


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## science

I'd want to look into it further, but perhaps copper, aluminum, silver, gold, and graphene.


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## science

I hope no one did that before me.

But seriously, I have no idea. I'm glad this isn't on me.


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## DiesIraeCX

science said:


> I'd want to look into it further, but perhaps copper, aluminum, silver, gold, and graphene.


:lol: :lol: That's completely my sense of humor. I hope they don't call the coppers on ya for that one!


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## Guest

science said:


> I'd want to look into it further, but perhaps copper, aluminum, silver, gold, and graphene.


Not only is my education depriving me of sleep, but it's making me wonder if you were intending to reference electrical or thermal conductivity with this post. I'm assuming electrical.


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## SeptimalTritone

Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide.

My choice is _infinitely_ better.

Well, it doesn't lend well into shaping into wires. But it's still infinitely better.


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## Jeffrey Smith

Returning to original intent
Gardiner
Chailly
Bernstein
Boulez
Solti

Gardiner is strong in areas not usually associated with him. For instance, he is my favorite Verdi Requiem.


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## science

nathanb said:


> Not only is my education depriving me of sleep, but it's making me wonder if you were intending to reference electrical or thermal conductivity with this post. I'm assuming electrical.


Naturally. I'm electric, not hot.


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## Woodduck

Wilhelm Furtwangler
Arturo Toscanini
Victor de Sabata
Sir John Barbirolli
Yevgeny Mravinsky


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## LHB

Kind of unfair to conductors like Koussevitzky, who were extremely important but don't have much recorded, no?

Furtwangler
Klemperer
Chailly
Boulez
Mravinsky


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## Muse Wanderer

dieter said:


> Peculiar mix. I can't see that if you like Klemperer who was anything but bland that you'd like Marriner who is blandness personified.


Interesting

I agree that these two conductors are polar opposites..

Klemperer injects such profoundity in his works.

Marriner on the other hand disappears and acts as a vehicle for the compositions to shine through.

It looks like blandness is needed for Mozart. The more a conductor tries to push it or embed his own signature the more weird it becomes.

The reverse may be said about Beethoven, Mahler and the romatics. The conductor needs to shine the light within the composition, and direct the orchestra as the notated composition may not convey the message adequately.


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## dieter

Muse Wanderer said:


> Interesting
> 
> I agree that these two conductors are polar opposites..
> 
> Klemperer injects such profoundity in his works.
> 
> Marriner on the other hand disappears and acts as a vehicle for the compositions to shine through.
> 
> It looks like blandness is needed for Mozart. The more a conductor tries to push it or embed his own signature the more weird it becomes.
> 
> The reverse may be said about Beethoven, Mahler and the romatics. The conductor needs to shine the light within the composition, and direct the orchestra as the notated composition may not convey the message adequately.


The Marriner/Brendel Mozart Piano concerti are a case in point. Just glib plodding along...Neville is great at lollipops like Rossini String Sonatas. ( And, what he said about finding it impossible to follow Furtwangler's beat when he played under him is probably all we really need to know.)


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## dieter

dieter said:


> Peculiar mix. I can't see that if you like Klemperer who was anything but bland that you'd like Marriner who is blandness personified.
> My list would be:
> 
> Furtwangler
> Klemperer
> Kurt Sanderling
> Diego Fasolis
> Harnoncourt.
> 
> That's today. Tomorrow I might like Inbal, Skrowaszewski, Jochum, Barbirolli and Bernstein for anything BUT Mahler.


And there'd also have to be Karel Ancerl.


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## Polyphemus

Michael Tilson Thomas
Georg Solti
Bernard Haitink
Gunther Wand
Charles Mackerras


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## Polyphemus

Polyphemus said:


> Michael Tilson Thomas
> Georg Solti
> Bernard Haitink
> Gunther Wand
> Charles Mackerras


With due apologies to Glorious John Horenstein Etc etc whom I was forced to omit due to limitations of poll.


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## Muse Wanderer

dieter said:


> The Marriner/Brendel Mozart Piano concerti are a case in point. Just glib plodding along...Neville is great at lollipops like Rossini String Sonatas. ( And, what he said about finding it impossible to follow Furtwangler's beat when he played under him is probably all we really need to know.)


:lol:, you convinced me to extirpate Marriner from my list! :tiphat:

The piano concerti with Brendel were not good I must admit.

How could I forget about those!

Perahia did a much better job there.

So my list will now be...

Otto Klemperer
Mazaka Suzuki
Georg Solti
Pierre Boulez
and....
John Elliot Gardiner


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## Figleaf

Tough one. I only fairly recently started noticing the names of conductors on records, and I don't really know anything about conducting. I do know that I've definitely heard more than five good ones, however.  Here are five whose recordings I would most hate humanity to lose:

François Ruhlmann
Albert Wolff
Eugène Bigot
Jean Fournet
Pierre-Michel Le Conte


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

Very, very tricky - worse than "Desert Island Discs", but after much agonising here goes...

Solti: His Strauss and Wagner recordings, taken _in toto_, are unrivalled. His Verdi and Bartók were pretty special, too.

Bernstein: Particularly for his recordings of Mahler and the American "giants" (his own works included), but he was always interesting in any repertoire, and he left us some classic recordings even outside his comfort zone.

Hogwood: His "HIP" recordings (particularly of Bach, Handel, Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart) are indispensable. I love his Martinů recordings also.

Mackerras: For doing for Janáček what Lenny did for Mahler. Besides that, his recording legacy spanned a huge range, and he never made a dud recording.

Haitink: A toss-up between him and Karajan, but in the end Haitink made some wonderful Debussy, Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven and Shostakovich recordings that I'd have to keep.


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## dieter

Good point about Perahia, now he's a much better conductor than Marriner.
Next time we'll talk about Sir Georg. I'll always remember a good friend of mine declaring that Solti's Mahler reminded him of lightning hitting a sh..house.
And, last but not least, while we're on the same page, please compare if you can the opening of Klemperer's Missa Solemnis to Gardiner's. Klemperer's Beethoven has the composer almost shrieking at the gods to have mercy on us. Gardiner's choir sound like bleating sheep. Though I love Gardiner's Handel. And Haydn. However, I just can't grow to like that English Choral sound. ( I know, Klemperer's christers were mainly Sassenachs, howvwer, the Chorus Master was Wilhelm Pitz.)


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## Brahmsian Colors

Bruno Walter
Otto Klemperer
Eugen Jochum
Leonard Bernstein
Charles Munch


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## Francis Poulenc

Bernstein
Toscanini
Karajan
Celibidache
Stokowski


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## Bettina

Kleiber
Gardiner
Munch
Bernstein
Solti


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## Azol

Definitely *Abbado *and *Bernstein*.
But as for the next three it's tough question.
Can we save only two conductors instead?


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## hpowders

Leonard Bernstein

Arturo Toscanini

Bruno Walter

Charles Munch

Herbert von Karajan


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## Delicious Manager

Claudio Abbado
Vernon Handley
Ferenc Fricsay
Kirill Kondrashin
Kurt Sanderling


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## Francis Poulenc

Looking through the posts it seems Bernstein is the name that comes up the most. He was quite the character, listening to him speak almost feels like you'd imagine listening to a historical legend like Beethoven or Mozart. He didn't have the same composition talent, but I'm sure he inspired thousands of kids to pursue music.


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## realdealblues

This is impossible for me.

I can say #1 for me would be Leonard Bernstein. Lenny would be my 1st choice because of his extremely vast repertoire. He was excellent in the German, French and Russian repertoires as well as modern composers. I would easily say 90% of what Lenny recorded was excellent. He may have been a little idiosyncratic at times in his later years but his passion and ability to speak to people never wavered and I would always want his recordings as well as his passion and love for music in general to carry on.

After that it's hard to say.

Charles Munch, Fritz Reiner, George Szell and Eugene Ormandy come to mind because along with Bernstein they pretty much dominated the American 50's and 60's with some of the finest recordings in classical music. All of them were absolute masters and left us some of most consistent quality recordings I can think of.

Then I think how Bruno Walter's warmth and optimistic performances will always be needed in this world. Then I think I don't know that I could live in a world without Karl Richter's Bach recordings. Then I think about someone like Antal Dorati who was almost as vast in repertoire as Bernstein and many of his recordings were excellent as well as including all of Haydn's symphonies.

Over in Europe you had the towering giants like Herbert Von Karajan, Eugen Jochum, Otto Klemperer and Rafael Kubelik who were all masters of so many different composers. Karajan's sheer number of recordings, Jochum was so excellent in the German repertoire that I don't think I could exclude him. Klemperer's absolute clarity and texture. Kubelik's amazing sense of Rhythm, details and Czech repertoire. Then you have conductors like Jean Martinon who was an absolute master of the French Repertoire. Or Ferenc Fricsay who could bring so many works to life and along with people like Karl Bohm and Gunter Wand left us 3 of the greatest Beethoven 9th's ever recorded. Rudolf Kempe who gave us the finest Richard Strauss we will probably ever hear. Or Neville Marriner's Mozart or Solti's Wagner. For me the list goes on and on...

Then what about a world without the giants of the mono era like Arturo Toscanini and Wilhelm Furtwangler? Should they be left to perish because of lesser sound quality?

It's too horrible for me to even think about being without any of those artists recorded legacies...


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## Vronsky

Sir Colin Davis for Mozart & Berlioz
Leonard Bernstein for Schumann & Mahler (these are his best IMHO, among many others)
Pierre Boulez for Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bartók, Webern & Mahler
Georg Solti for Wagner, Bartók & Schumann
Claudio Abbado for Mendelssohn, Berlioz & Mahler (1st & 6th symphony in particular)


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## Francis Poulenc

realdealblues said:


> This is impossible for me.
> 
> I can say #1 for me would be Leonard Bernstein. Lenny would be my 1st choice because of his extremely vast repertoire. He was excellent in the German, French and Russian repertoires as well as modern composers. I would easily say 90% of what Lenny recorded was excellent. He may have been a little idiosyncratic at times in his later years but his passion and ability to speak to people never wavered and I would always want his recordings as well as his passion and love for music in general to carry on.
> 
> After that it's hard to say.
> 
> Charles Munch, Fritz Reiner, George Szell and Eugene Ormandy come to mind because along with Bernstein they pretty much dominated the American 50's and 60's with some of the finest recordings in classical music. All of them were absolute masters and left us some of most consistent quality recordings I can think of.
> 
> Then I think how Bruno Walter's warmth and optimistic performances will always be needed in this world. Then I think I don't know that I could live in a world without Karl Richter's Bach recordings. Then I think about someone like Antal Dorati who was almost as vast in repertoire as Bernstein and many of his recordings were excellent as well as including all of Haydn's symphonies.
> 
> Over in Europe you had the towering giants like Herbert Von Karajan, Eugen Jochum, Otto Klemperer and Rafael Kubelik who were all masters of so many different composers. Karajan's sheer number of recordings, Jochum was so excellent in the German repertoire that I don't think I could exclude him. Klemperer's absolute clarity and texture. Kubelik's amazing sense of Rhythm, details and Czech repertoire. Then you have conductors like Jean Martinon who was an absolute master of the French Repertoire. Or Ferenc Fricsay who could bring so many works to life and along with people like Karl Bohm and Gunter Wand left us 3 of the greatest Beethoven 9th's ever recorded. Rudolf Kempe who gave us the finest Richard Strauss we will probably ever hear. Or Neville Marriner's Mozart or Solti's Wagner. For me the list goes on and on...
> 
> Then what about a world without the giants of the mono era like Arturo Toscanini and Wilhelm Furtwangler? Should they be left to perish because of lesser sound quality?
> 
> It's too horrible for me to even think about being without any of those artists recorded legacies...


Celibidache communicates the same warmth and love for music that Bernstein does, but it doesn't come across as well because he wasn't a native English speaker. His Bruckner is out of this world, and virtually everything I've heard under his baton was top-class. The man was a true genius and I would easily place him among the top 2 or 3 greatest conductors of the XXth Century.

Though the greatest conductors of all time were surely those who we never got to hear. Imagine what a privilege it would have been to hear Mahler conduct.


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## helenora

Francis Poulenc said:


> Celibidache communicates the same warmth and love for music that Bernstein does, but it doesn't come across as well because he wasn't a native English speaker. His Bruckner is out of this world, and virtually everything I've heard under his baton was top-class. The man was a true genius and I would easily place him among the top 2 or 3 greatest conductors of the XXth Century.
> 
> Though the greatest conductors of all time were surely those who we never got to hear. Imagine what a privilege it would have been to hear Mahler conduct.


very nice observation!

as for me I choose only one conductor namely Celibidache - genius!

PS I'm not talking about those whom we never had a privilege to hear ...


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## realdealblues

Francis Poulenc said:


> Celibidache communicates the same warmth and love for music that Bernstein does, but it doesn't come across as well because he wasn't a native English speaker. His Bruckner is out of this world, and virtually everything I've heard under his baton was top-class. The man was a true genius and I would easily place him among the top 2 or 3 greatest conductors of the XXth Century.
> 
> Though the greatest conductors of all time were surely those who we never got to hear. Imagine what a privilege it would have been to hear Mahler conduct.


I have most all of Celibidache's recordings but personally he has never spoken to me in the same way. Part of that is because of his "ego" and general attitude towards his peers and music in general but I don't often agree with his viewpoints.

I do agree though it would have been wonderful to hear Mahler conduct.


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## Chronochromie

Worlds where Bernstein and/or Celibidache are the only existing conductors are not worlds where I'd like to live in.


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## Francis Poulenc

Chronochromie said:


> Worlds where Bernstein and/or Celibidache are the only existing conductors are not worlds where I'd like to live in.


Unfortunately these two great maestros have now gone with God.


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## EdwardBast

If I could only save five conductors I would have to assume we were in some sort of post-apocalyptic situation, in which case I would pick big, young ones who are on the lean side. None of those stringy old Germans for me, thank you.


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## Mal

Karajan, Szell, Walter, Haitink, Klemperer


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## hpowders

I'm starting to feel guilty. Can't sleep. Save them all! Who am I to play God????


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## Bulldog

Jacobs - Gardiner - Herreweghe - Suzuki - Bruggen; all for HIP with period instruments.

For modern orchestras - C. Davis, Sinopoli, Boulez, Bohm and Klemperer.


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## hpowders

Charles Munch
Leonard Bernstein
Bruno Walter
Gunter Wand
Arturo Toscanini


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## Omicron9

Well obviously Leopold:


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## Itullian

Furtwangler
Klemperer
Walter
Bernstein
Bohm


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## WildThing

Furtwangler
Toscanini
Munch
Bernstein
Walter


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## Tallisman

Knappertsbusch (Wagner)
Furtwangler (don't need to justify)
Bohm (impeccable Mozart and Strauss)
Bernstein (just so human)
Neville Marriner (that massive Academy of SMITF treasure trove must be preserved)


----------



## Bulldog

Colin Davis
John Eliot Gardiner
Herreweghe
Harnoncourt
Kondrashin


----------



## Heck148

Reiner
Toscanini
Solti
Bernstein
_Monteux_**

**#5 is hard to pick - Monteux, Walter, Stokowski, Mravinsky


----------



## Bettina

Bernstein
Karajan
Furtwängler 
Munch
Abbado


----------



## hpowders

"Humanity" . Is that a charity? Is there a tax deduction?


----------



## Bulldog

hpowders said:


> "Humanity" . Is that a charity? Is there a tax deduction?


No, but every time you assist humanity, an angel gets its wings. Think I'll go watch that Jimmy Stewart/Donna Reed flick.


----------



## Brahmsianhorn

Furtwangler for Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mozart, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Wagner

Barbirolli for Mahler

De Sabata for Verdi and Puccini

Klemperer for Mahler, Beethoven and Brahms

Stokowski for Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky


----------



## jdec

Bettina said:


> Bernstein
> Karajan
> Furtwängler
> Munch
> Abbado


This could easily be my exact list too! If I had to change anything, I'd probably replace Munch with Reiner or Kleiber Jr., or Szell, but Munch is totally OK too.


----------



## Portamento

For statistical purposes, sorted by number of votes received.

27 - Bernstein

26 -

25 -

24 -

23 -

22 -

21 -

20 -

19 -

18 - Karajan

17 -

16 -

15 -

14 - Solti

13 -

12 - Klemperer, Furtwängler

11 - 

10 - Gardiner

9 - Boulez, Toscanini, Munch

8 - Walter

7 - Mravinsky, Abbado

6 - 

5 - Suzuki, Haitink, C. Davis, Barbirolli

4 - Jacobs, Marriner, Harnoncourt, Böhm

3 - Mackerras, Sanderling, Wand, Herreweghe, Reiner

2 - Kubelík, Ormandy, Muti, Doráti, Gergiev, Hogwood, Chailly, Kondrashin, Celibidache, de Sabata, Stokowski, Kleiber, Szell

1 - Davis, Bonynge, Vänskä, Serafin, Britten, Latham-Koenig, Curtis, Savall, Skrowaczewski, Golovanov, Mahler, Stravinsky, Rattle, Jansons, Griffiths, Pinnock, Van Immerseel, Levine, Fasolis, Tilson Thomas, Ruhlmann, Wolff, Bigot, Fournet, Le Conte, Jochum, Celibidache, Handley, Fricsay, Brüggen, Sinopoli, Knappertsbusch, Monteux


----------



## Holden4th

Reiner
Fricsay (he died too early)
Toscanini
Walter
Mravinsky


----------



## Klavierspieler

I would let them all die. :devil:


----------



## Chronochromie

Portamento said:


> For statistical purposes, sorted by number of votes received.
> 
> 27 - Bernstein


Tsk tsk...such wasted votes...


----------



## hpowders

Klavierspieler said:


> I would let them all die. :devil:


Yeah. Especially Karajan and Furtwängler. I have plans for them....:devil:

Meet me out Bach and we'll talk about it. :clap:


----------



## Portamento

Klavierspieler said:


> I would let them all die. :devil:


But most of them are already dead. Did you mean _dye_? - because I'm sure that can be arranged.


----------



## lehnert

1. Leonard Bernstein
2. Herbert von Karajan
3. Claudio Abbado
4. Bernard Haitink
5. Georg Solti


----------



## David Phillips

Chronochromie said:


> Worlds where Bernstein and/or Celibidache are the only existing conductors are not worlds where I'd like to live in.


100% agree. I'm afraid I find it impossible to limit myself to only five great conductors.


----------



## Sonata

1) Karajan
2) Klemperer
3) Haitink
4) Rudel (for his many recordings with Beverly Sills)
5) William Christie (for his splendid work recording French Baroque Reportoire.

I find Haitink is underrated hence my championing. Levine or Abaddo would be two other reasonable choices in that slot. To be honest I'm not super well versed in conductors, but I'm comfortable with these choices.


----------



## helenora

if only mister Celibidache could live longer .....


----------



## Becca

Otto Klemperer
Sir John Barbirolli
Carlos Kleiber
Carlo Maria Giulini

- Between them they cover the vast majority of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th century symphonic and operatic repertoire. Now I only need someone who will cover the rest of the 20th century and fill in a few gaps in the 19th - and therein lies the rub!


----------



## chill782002

Claudio Abbado
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Bernard Haitink
Otto Klemperer
Kirill Kondrashin

These guys all had a fairly wide repertoire so I've chosen them ahead of several other conductors who were also brilliant but tended to specialise in the works of just one or two composers.


----------



## Portamento

Updated standings:

28 - Bernstein

27 - 

26 -

25 -

24 -

23 -

22 -

21 -

20 - Karajan

19 - 

18 - 

17 -

16 -

15 - Solti, Klemperer

14 - 

13 - Furtwängler

12 - 

11 - 

10 - Gardiner, Toscanini

9 - Boulez, Munch, Walter, Abbado

8 - Mravinsky, Haitink

7 - 

6 - Barbirolli

5 - Suzuki, C Davis

4 - Jacobs, Marriner, Harnoncourt, Böhm, Reiner

3 - Mackerras, Sanderling, Wand, Herreweghe, Kleiber, Kondrashin

2 - Kubelík, Ormandy, Muti, Doráti, Gergiev, Hogwood, Chailly, Celibidache, de Sabata, Stokowski, Szell, Fricsay

1 - Davis, Bonynge, Vänskä, Serafin, Britten, Latham-Koenig, Curtis, Savall, Skrowaczewski, Golovanov, Mahler, Stravinsky, Rattle, Jansons, Griffiths, Pinnock, Van Immerseel, Levine, Fasolis, Tilson Thomas, Ruhlmann, Wolff, Bigot, Fournet, Le Conte, Jochum, Celibidache, Handley, Brüggen, Sinopoli, Knappertsbusch, Monteux, Rudel, Christie, Giulini


----------



## Pat Fairlea

My five:

Vänskä
Handley
Sanderling
Ormandy
Abbado

Yes, idiosyncratic, c'est moi.


----------



## chill782002

Portamento said:


> Updated standings:
> 
> 28 - Bernstein


Thanks for taking the time to put this together, interesting to see the relative popularity of various conductors. However, I also rate Milan Horvat, Hartmut Haenchen and Kurt Masur very highly but I don't see their names here. Robert Kajanus as well although he died too long ago to have made many recordings and is mainly associated with his Sibelius interpretations. And surely poor old Eugen Jochum deserves more than one vote? He was a great conductor with a wide repertoire. He would have been my sixth had I been able to pick one. Maybe other members feel the same.


----------



## jaypee65

Otto Klemperer
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Boulez
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
William Christie


----------



## Allegro Con Brio

Suzuki (because a future without Bach is a terrifying future to imagine)
Furtwängler
Barbirolli
Bernstein
Klemperer


----------



## hammeredklavier

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Furtwängler


You want to save this for humanity?


----------



## consuono

Walter
Klemperer
Szell
Bernstein
All of my favorite Bach interpreters in various styles in one clump: Richter, Rilling, Gardiner, Suzuki and even Coin, maybe


----------



## WildThing

hammeredklavier said:


> You want to save this for humanity?


Yes. What an extraordinary account of the Prelude to Die Meistersinger, ardently propelled and generating so much momentum that one practically feels levitation is imminent.


----------



## mbhaub

1. Bernstein
2. Reiner
3. Walter
4. Munch
5. Toscanini


----------



## Geoff48

Karajan for his ability to play competently music of all periods and in particular his success with the lighter classics 
Monteux for French music as well as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky amongst others.
Barbirolli who played everything with heart and was probably the supreme concerto partner and conductor of English music.
Klemperer. His ability to bring out the strength in music and his majestic but never over slow speeds in old age. And not forgetting his services to contemporary music in his younger days.
Mackerras for his marvellous Mozart and his Slavonic Music. And also for his love of Gilbert and Sullivan and writing Pineapple Poll, the ballet based on Sullivan’s tunes. That may not make him great but it does show the measure of the man.


----------



## BachIsBest

Herbert von Karajan
Otto Klemperer
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Hans Rosbaud
Karl Richter

I would really miss Mahler's 8th. But oh well.


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Walter
Klemperer
Munch
Monteux
Barbirolli


----------



## Coach G

1. Bernstein (for the love and enthusiasm)
2. Karajan (for the polish, wax, shine, and sparkle)
3. Mitroupolos (for the spontaneity, sportive element, and catholic taste in repertoire)
4. Szell (for balance and proper seasoning; he was also a gourmet chef, you know)
5. Ormandy (for lyricism, the "Philadelphia Sound", and for being solid and reliable; an Ormandy recording is not always the best, but it's almost always good enough)


----------



## MatthewWeflen

Karajan
Gardiner
Pinnock
C. Kleiber
Toscanini


----------



## Guest002

Britten.

Oh, and Solti.

I wouldn't want to lose _Das Ring_. But Britten opens doors into so many different composers' ouvres, I'd hate to lose him.

And, Jordi Savall.
John Butt.

I think I only need 4. 
*
Edited to add:* No! I need Bernstein too. So 5.


----------



## Handelian

hammeredklavier said:


> You want to save this for humanity?


There is no doubt one of Mravinsky conducting for Stalinists so take your pick!


----------



## MatthewWeflen

hammeredklavier said:


> You want to save this for humanity?


Furty is not on my list (I find his tempo shifts annoying and his movements distracting) but I am quite glad that this video exists. It was a fascinating document. The sense of foreboding and gloom on the faces of the audience is quite powerful.


----------



## Barbebleu

Bernstein 
Karajan
Solti
Knappertsbusch
Kondrashin

Ooh, nobody modern, or for that matter, alive! Much like myself these days. :lol:


----------



## ORigel

Bernstein
Karajan
Klemperer (for his interpretations of large-scale choral works)
Abbado
Gardiner (for his clarity and period performances)


----------



## Axter

In no particular order

Herbert von Karajan
Leonard Bernstein
Sir Georg Solti
Lorin Maazel
Sir Adrian Boult




edit:
I wished the request was not limited to 5. Really want Karl Böhm and Carlos Kleiber in my list too.


----------



## Prodromides

I made certain my 5 conductors for humanity are/were also composers who championed new music by others as well as their own. 

Leif Segerstam (b. 1944)
Péter Eötvös (b. 1944)
Hans Zender (b. 1936)
Marius Constant (1925 - 2004)
Bruno Maderna (1920 - 1973)


----------



## Rogerx

Leonard Bernstein
Herbert von Karajan
Sir Georg Solti
Richard Bonynge for all he did for Bel Canto and Ballet 
Robin Ticciati


----------



## musichal

Karajan
Klemperer
Bernstein
Szell
Solti


----------



## Phil loves classical

My picks for specialty and range of repertoire they cover 

Klemperer
Dutoit (if he can stay away from the girls)
Boulez
Karajan
Gardiner


----------



## Rach Man

Georg Solti
Christoph von Dohnanyi
Gunter Wand
Herbert Blomstedt
Manfred Honeck


----------



## gvn

It seems to me that the recordings most highly prized by future generations are likely to be those that help to show how major composers wanted their _own_ works conducted.

If we knew that Nikisch had recorded the complete Beethoven symphonies but the recordings hadn't been preserved, we'd feel a loss. But if we knew that Mahler had recorded all his _own_ symphonies and the recordings hadn't been preserved, we'd feel an immensely greater loss.

So my list of conductors is:

1. *Stravinsky*. If we preserve Stravinsky's recordings for posterity, posterity may be disillusioned. But if posterity knew that Stravinsky had recorded virtually his complete works and we had _failed_ to preserve them, the loss would surely be felt to be immeasurable.

2. *Richard Strauss*. Similar reasoning.

3. At the time when Verdi could presumably have asked almost any conductor anywhere in the world to conduct his final works, the conductor he chose was *Toscanini*. As far as I can recall at the moment, Toscanini's recordings seem to be our sole opportunities to hear _pre_-20th century music recorded under a conductor approved by a major composer of that time.

4. Stravinsky, Strauss, and Verdi have all been popular for well over a century. No doubt their reputations will continue to fluctuate, but I doubt whether the future would lose interest in them completely. With more recent music, it's harder to guess what will remain of interest. Perhaps *Boulez* (or *Britten*?).

5. And, to represent very recent music, perhaps *Penderecki*? (Not so much competition here. How many other contemporary composers have been recorded conducting their own works to any significant extent?!)

Apart from the above _individual_ conductors, there seem to me to be two _groups_ of orchestral recordings that are likely to remain of special historical interest:

6. The recordings with *Rachmaninoff* either conducting his own music, or playing the piano with Stokowski or Ormandy conducting.

7. The recordings of *Sibelius's* music under the select group of conductors whom the composer most approved: Kajanus, Koussevitsky, Beecham (in each case, all their surviving Sibelius recordings, not only those made for the Sibelius Society); Ormandy's 1951 _Lemminkäinen Suite;_ and the 1939 _Andante Festivo_ supposedly conducted by the composer himself (that's what the radio announcer on the recording claims, though I know the matter has been questioned).

The above list is confined to strictly "classical" music. I expect future generations will also want to hear Ellington conducting Ellington. And perhaps Eric Coates conducting Eric Coates? Perhaps Stolz conducting _Spring Parade_? Perhaps Bernstein conducting _West Side Story_?? (though that recording might well be found disappointing in some respects!).


----------



## Coach G

gvn said:


> It seems to me that the recordings most highly prized by future generations are likely to be those that help to show how major composers wanted their _own_ works conducted...
> 
> ...So my list of conductors is:
> 
> 1. *Stravinsky*. If we preserve Stravinsky's recordings for posterity, posterity may be disillusioned. But if posterity knew that Stravinsky had recorded virtually his complete works and we had _failed_ to preserve them, the loss would surely be felt to be immeasurable...


I have a 22 disc box set (that I got for about $20!) of Stravinsky's works conducted by the composer (or under the composer's "supervision", whatever that is supposed to mean. I know that Britten's recordings of his own works are exemplar, as well as Britten's recordings where he conducts the works of other composers (notably Bach's _St. John Passion_, and Shostakovich's _Symphony #14_). Likewise, I know that Richard Strauss was a great conductor of his times, as was Mendelssohn, Wagner, and Mahler, whose work as a conductor are lost to history. *Did Stravinsky ever conduct and record music by OTHER composers than himself?* I'd be interested to know because Stravinsky seemed to have a feeling for a lot of different kinds of music by other composers. He re-orchestrated and re-arranged music Bach, Pergolesi, and Tchaikovsky; was heavily influenced by Debussy and Rimsky-Korsakov, and towards was very interested in Berg and Webern and even tried his hand at jumping on Schoenberg's serial bandwagon.


----------



## Fabulin

Stokowski, Bernstein, Karajan, Toscanini, and Williams (conducting his own music)

In contrast to Stravinsky, Williams' works in a complete form have been recorded and conducted nearly exclusively by him. To lose these recordings is to lose the intended interpretations conducted within days or weeks from when the music was written, performed by top form London Symphony Orchestra or elite gig musicians for whom the athletics in it were intended.

Stokowski, Bernstein, Karajan, and Toscanini put together should save a significant chunk of the main repertoire in at least very good interpretations.


----------



## Heck148

Fabulin said:


> Stokowski, Bernstein, Karajan, and Toscanini put together should save a significant chunk of the main repertoire in at least very good interpretations.


That is why I named Reiner and Monteux as essential conductors...between the two, they produced great interpretations of virtually the entire repertoire...they excelled at a huge range of music...Solti and Bernstein did extremely well also, maybe not quite as consistent as Reiner and Monteux, but their successes are quite spectacular...Toscanini excelled at so much as well...
Another important criterion in favor of Reiner and Monteux is their skill at orchestra building...both had outstanding records of raising their various orchestras to top level or greatly improved level of status....remarkable records of achievement for both Maestros....


----------



## Bulldog

Gardiner
Herreweghe
Suzuki
Davis, Colin
Sinopoli


----------



## gvn

Coach G said:


> I have a 22 disc box set (that I got for about $20!) of Stravinsky's works conducted by the composer (or under the composer's "supervision", whatever that is supposed to mean.





Fabulin said:


> In contrast to Stravinsky, Williams' works in a complete form have been recorded and conducted nearly exclusively by him.


Oh, am I wrong about that? My old CDs and even older LPs listed Stravinsky himself as "conducting" nearly all the works in the big CBS/Sony set, but perhaps that was done for marketing reasons.

In that case, the CBS/Sony set would still be of interest to posterity, but only as much interest as we'd have in a Beethoven set conducted by Hans Richter or Nikisch, certainly not a Mahler set conducted by Mahler.

If so, delete Stravinsky from my list, and put someone else on it. Perhaps Hindemith?


----------



## Coach G

gvn said:


> *Oh, am I wrong about that? My old CDs and even older LPs listed Stravinsky himself as "conducting" nearly all the works in the big CBS/Sony set, but perhaps that was done for marketing reasons.*
> 
> In that case, the CBS/Sony set would still be of interest to posterity, but only as much interest as we'd have in a Beethoven set conducted by Hans Richter or Nikisch, certainly not a Mahler set conducted by Mahler.
> 
> If so, delete Stravinsky from my list, and put someone else on it. Perhaps Hindemith?


Some of the later recordings were conducted by Robert Craft under the "supervision" of the composer. According to _Lives of the Great Composers_, the author, Harold Schoenberg asserts that Stravinsky's later writings that were made in "collaboration" with Robert Craft are more Craft than Stravinsky, and Schoenberg says that Stravinsky by that time was a tired old man who was willing to go along with whatever Craft said.

I know that one piece in the box set, _The Flood_, is conducted by Craft under Stravinsky's "supervision". Even so, _The Flood_ is a great and underrated recording based on the Biblical flood from the book of Genesis, and it's a serial work to boot, with Sebastian Cabot as "Noah". How could you pass that up?


----------



## Coach G

Maybe someone out there can define what it means when a recording says "conducted under the the supervision of the composer."

I have an old record album of the Rostropovich/Ormandy Shostakovich's _Cello Concerto #1_ that was, I guess , made when Shostakovich and Rostropovich were allowed to visit the USA. in the late 1950s (or early 1960s?). I always thought to myself, as one of the top American conductors why did Ormandy need a "supervisor", and if Shostakovich's input was that important, why didn't Ormandy just step aside and let Shostakovich conduct his Philadelphia Orchestra himself?


----------



## Prodromides

gvn said:


> 5. And, to represent very recent music, perhaps *Penderecki*? (Not so much competition here. How many other contemporary composers have been recorded conducting their own works to any significant extent?!)


"gvn" might regret asking the above ... after regarding my reply:

Thomas Adès
Malcolm Arnold
Simon Bainbridge
George Benjamin
Luciano Berio
Arthur Bliss
Pierre Boulez
Henry Brant
Earle Brown
Marius Constant
Péter Eötvös
Robert Farnon
Jerry Goldsmith
Heinz Karl Gruber
Christopher Gunning
Cristóbal Halffter
Anthony Iannaccone
Andre Jolivet
Geert van Keulen
Oliver Knussen
Meyer Kupferman
Marcel Landowski
Jukka Linkola
Witold Lutosławski
William Mathias
Peter Maxwell Davies
Thea Musgrave
Andrzej Panufnik
Vincent Persichetti
Laurent Petitgirard
Matthias Pintscher
Andre Previn
Horațiu Rădulescu
Rolf Urs Ringger
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Lalo Schifrin
Gunther Schuller
Gerard Schurmann
Leif Segerstam
Stanisław Skrowaczewski
Michel Tabachnik
Emil Tabakov
Tan Dun
Mikis Theodorakis
László Tihanyi
Joseph Vella
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Roger Vuataz
Jean-Jacques Werner
Charles Wuorinen
Hans Zender
Udo Zimmermann

[Penderecki's invisible - but audible - competition  ]


----------



## Coach G

Don't forget Benjamin Britten whose own recordings of his own works are the gold standard. Britten also had his own little cast and crew that included Dietrich Fischer-Diskau, John Shirley-Quirk, Stanislav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Mark Lubotsky, and of course, his life partner, Peter Pears. Britten said in an interview that he didn't write his music for the _instrument_, he wrote for the _person_ who would be the soloist.


----------



## Fabulin

gvn said:


> Oh, am I wrong about that? My old CDs and even older LPs listed Stravinsky himself as "conducting" nearly all the works in the big CBS/Sony set, but perhaps that was done for marketing reasons.
> 
> In that case, the CBS/Sony set would still be of interest to posterity, but only as much interest as we'd have in a Beethoven set conducted by Hans Richter or Nikisch, certainly not a Mahler set conducted by Mahler.
> 
> If so, delete Stravinsky from my list, and put someone else on it. Perhaps Hindemith?


I meant something else - that Stravinsky's works have (or usually can get) plenty of re-recordings, whereas in the case of Williams there is the frequent problem of:
1. assembling a 100+ piece orchestra with some unique instruments added
2. recording 2 hours of music that gets quite marathonesque for the musicians (especially winds) when played in one go, and 
3. assumes world's best sight-reading skills in the first place, and if that's not enough
4. has random quirks such as requiring several months of preparation by the harpist (E.T.)

Only to have to match the recordings in a fairly good quality (mostly 1980s and later) made by the composer himself with either the LSO, an ensemble of best freelancers money could buy, or sometimes other great orchestras such as Boston or Chicago SO.

Doing that 50 times would take a century even with just one recording for each work (never mind the likely inferior conducting interpretations!).

In contrast to Stravinsky's (or Richard Strauss's) sometimes bored late interpretations of their works [or so they say - I enjoy authentic recordings anyway], Williams has never done that, even when over 80.

It's pure speculation anyway. I like your choice of Stravinsky, in my view one of the 3 greatest 20th century composers, and with some claim for being the most _important_ one in his lifetime.


----------



## Agamenon

Hard topic! 

1. Furtwängler : an excellent example of the romantic school.
2 Klemperer: a league on his own. many approaches to lots of masterpieces, that are stunning and unforgettable.
3. Karajan: not my fave, but....unavoidable.
4. Giulini: Lyrical, transparent. a Master of humanity.
5. Bernstein: Composer, conductor, genius, genius!

I miss in this list the following conductors: C.Kleiber, maestro Celibidache, Haitink, Mravinsky (a taste of russia), and Toscanini ( not my fave, but very influential).


----------



## Pat Fairlea

Just checked back on my choices from 2017. Yup, still agree.
Interesting how rarely Adrian Boult gets a mention. Like Ormandy, he was seldom outstanding but (nearly) always good enough. On his day, though, with something complex from the 1870 to 1940 orchestral repertoire, he could be quietly brilliant, teasing out the detail and achieving a balance of 'voices'.


----------



## Shaughnessy

Claudio Abbado

Ferenc Fricsay

John Eliot Gardiner

Carlo Maria Giulini 

Herbert von Karajan

If any of the five above pulls a "Bruno Walter with the New York Philharmonic" and calls in sick with the flu then Chailly, Hogwood, Rattle, Solti, or Szell.


----------



## SanAntone

Bernstein
Gardiner
Herreweghe
Gielen
Abbado


----------



## SixFootScowl

Add Pierre Monteux to the list.

How about composers who also were conductors? 

Mahler
Mendelssohn
...


----------



## Xisten267

Furtwängler
Toscanini
Karajan
Bernstein
Sinopoli/Abbado


----------



## Becca

Allerius said:


> Furtwängler
> Toscanini
> Karajan
> Bernstein
> Sinopoli/Abbado


Is that Clauseppe Sinopoli-Abbado or his brother, Giudio?


----------



## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern

I hope my main man Maximianno Cobra got a shoutout in this thread. Absolute legend


----------



## MatthewWeflen

GucciManeIsTheNewWebern said:


> I hope my main man Maximianno Cobra got a shoutout in this thread. Absolute legend


I'm sure he did, but the shout-out started being typed at post number 2 and the typist still isn't finished yet.


----------



## Simon23

A very unusual and interesting question, in my opinion))

Rilling (for Bach)
Wand (for Bruckner and other German music)
Furtwangler (for all)
Klemperer (for all)
Solti (Mahler and Wagner)


----------



## Handelian

Obviously it’s an impossible question to answer.
Karajan for his general excellence and huge breadth of recordings and we can include his 1950s in that too.
Gardiner for his Bach and baroque recordings.
Bernstein for being the greatest musician-conductor of the twentieth century.
Ormandy or Szell for their masterly accompaniment of some of the greatest soloists
Serafin to preserve Callas


----------



## 20centrfuge

I like seeing Herreweghe showing up on people's lists. He'd almost make my list.

I'd pick, off the top of my head:

Jarvi (since he has been SUCH a champion of Prokofiev)
Bernstein
Marriner
Haitink
Solti


----------



## Dimace

1.CELIBITACHE! (for EVERYTHING he made)
2.Mitropoulos! (for everything he made) 

......................................................
......................................................


X.Carlo Maria Giulini (for MANY recordings) 
Y. Carl Schuricht (for everything) & Bruno Walter (for his Beethoven and not only) 
Z. Günter Wand (for his Bruckner) & Erich Leinsdorf. (for his Mahler & Mozart)


----------



## Bill Schuster

I'm pretty basic, I think, as a relative noob. Advance apologies for the cluttered post...still haven't mastered phone posting. 1. Boulez - He covered such a huge swath of traditional and modern material and did it so well, that he is my clear top pick. 2. and 3. - Bernstein and Karajan. Yes, these are predictable, populist choices. They covered vast amounts of the basic repertoire between them and love them or not, they must be reckoned with. 4. - Reiner. His recordings with Chicago still contain some of my favorites. The sound holds up impressively, after all these decades. 5. I don't really know. There are many possibilities, but no clear winner for me. Anyone have a good pick to balance out Boulez, Bernstein, Karajan and Reiner?


----------



## Heck148

Bill Schuster said:


> There are many possibilities, but no clear winner for me. Anyone have a good pick to balance out Boulez, Bernstein, Karajan and Reiner?


That's a pretty good list....scratch Karajan - add Monteux, Toscanini, Stokowski...


----------



## RogerWaters

Furtwangler (representative of the 'flexible tempo' tradition)
Toscanini (representative of the 'straightforwad' tradition)
Karajan (orchestral beauty and breadth of reportoire)
Marriner (spearhead of the HIP tradition)
Boulez (champion of modern classics)

Others who I would have liked to include:

Klemperer (structural clarity)
Herreweghe (baroque HIP)


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## numinisgos

Furtwangler (ingenuity) 
Klemperer (succinctly put by Roger Waters, structural clarity) 
Herreweghe (Bach & Baroque) 
Mravinsky (Russia) 
Solti (Wagner) 

+

Boulez for his take on modern music 
Savall for the diversity of the repertoire he conducted


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## George P Smackers

Furtwängler: just magical for me, Wagner, Beethoven, etc., can feel it from the first notes of anything
P.S. he refused to give the Nazi salute or join the NSDAP (unlike a certain conductor whose initials are HvK); he supported Jewish musicians, resisted Hitler's efforts to co-opt him as the principal representative of German music of his time and, doubtless naively, thought his music could be a source of good for Germans during the darkness

Abbado: favorite Mahlerian

Carlos Kleiber: for Beethoven etc.

Klemperer: poetic vigor

J. E. Gardiner: need an early-music guy


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## Chilham

Harnoncourt
Herreweghe
Hogwood
Savall
Pinnock

That'll change, but I'm fine with it for now..


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## 20centrfuge

Toscannini, Stokowski, Bugs Bunny, Richard Strauss, Keith Lockhart

… all the big names


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## consuono

I think might have forgotten to mention Klemperer. He'd be in my "essential" group as well.


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## Subutai

Herbert von Karajan for making me love classical music.
Neeme Jarvi for championing underrated composers.
Evgeny Svetlanov for his love of all things Russian. 
Daniel Barenboim for his principles.
Bruno Walter for his humanity.
and finally,
John Eliot Gardiner for being a complete *******.


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## elgar's ghost

Subutai said:


> and finally,
> John Eliot Gardiner for being a complete *******.


I'll bite. How has he upset you?


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## mparta

Would it be good for someone to start a "Five Conductors from which to save Humanity" thread?

Actually, no, I very much veer away from the negative threads, so drop that idea. But I don't think any conductors have done much for humanity, so I don't get the question.


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## jdec

Karajan
Bernstein
Abbado
Furtwangler
Fricsay


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## Xisten267

Becca said:


> Is that Clauseppe Sinopoli-Abbado or his brother, Giudio?


Hehe, both. I love, love Sinopoli's Wagner, and I think that Abbado is consistently good or very good for basically everything from the Classical era to the twentieth century. I think that Abbado has a perfect sense of tempo, at least to my ears, and it's customary to me to pick one of his recordings when I'm listening to something for the first time, for I know that I'll like it.


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## jim prideaux

Mackerras and Paavo Berglund may well figure in any list I came up with, primarily as one way or another I seem to spend a fair amount of time listening to their recordings.......and in both instances have had a significant impact on how I actually hear certain works ( Mackerras/Mozart) and ( Berglund/anything he does really!)

Skrowaczeski and Micheal Gielen would perhaps belong there ( with Harnoncourt!).....Now realising my suggestions have nothing to do with the OP as i am not considering humanity but my own personal inclinations......Sorry!

...and Bruno Walter as I just like the very idea of his 'story' andf his recordings of Brahms and Beethoven.....


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## Highwayman

I don`t particularly care for the welfare of the humanity so I`ll just name a handful of conductors for my own benefit.

1 - Klemperer
2 - Furtwängler
3 - Böhm
4 - Jochum
5 - Ormandy


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## Ned Low

Wilhelm Furtwangler
Otto Klemperer
Gunter Wand
Rafael Kubelik 
Eugen Jochum
I can't exclude Bohm so he has to be resurrected and give us a complete Bruckner symphony cycle.


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## Antwerp Smerle

In alphabetical order...
Leonard Bernstein 
Reginald Goodall
Jascha Horenstein
Carlos Kleiber
Klaus Tennstedt


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## jkl

I might choose Bernstein, von Karajan, Kleiber are some that come to mind.


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## Amadea

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Riffing off the the thread, _If You Could Only Save 5 Composers for Humanity?_ if you could only save the recorded oeuvre of 5 conductors, who would they be... and why?


von Karajan and Abbado - they are just the greatests imho.
Riccardo Muti - I love his Verdi and Mozart, the best of our times.
Bernstein - to me he's so "human" if that makes sense, even if I do not love everything by him and might probably change my opinion in the future.
Mackerras - for Mozart.


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## cybernaut

Bruno Walter
Otto Klemperer
Herbert von Karajan
Leonard Bernstein

That's 4. 
Tempted to put Szell in as the 5th...but also tempted to put in Marriner. Or Celibidache. Or Giulini. I'm conflicted!!


I need to hear more of Munch. And a bunch of these other composers.


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