Dixon Hill 4,236 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I was reading an old thread on John's skills as a conductor, and figured I'd make a more general one rather than resurrecting it.Living or dead, though it may be more interesting to try and limit answers to those who are still with us. For me, it's Bernstein, von Karajan, Stokowski, Previn, Tilson Thomas, Rattle, and Salonen. Especially Salonen; I think he's my current favorite. His 2008 recording of the complete Firebird with the LA Philharmonic is a revelation, with the most exhilarating reading of the finale I've ever heard.http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9F704C53C295917 publicist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,308 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Leonard Bernstein is my all time favourite!Of the younger ones, Dudamel is also one of my personal favs (his recording of Rite of Spring is my favourite). karelm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,974 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 For me, Stokowski will forever be #1. karelm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glóin the Dark 1,280 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 For me, number one is Pierre Boulez.Simon Rattle, Colin Davis and Benjamin Zander spring to mind as others I normally expect pleasing results from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romão 2,317 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Claudio Abbado might be my favorite. I'm really partial to his Mussorgsky recordings, that really opened up that composer's music to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkgyver 1,647 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Glóin the Dark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 10,316 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Nice one, gkgyver. No idea what the caption represents, but damn, is it funny!Conductors? Will I get socked in the mouth if I said John Williams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,236 Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Nope, he's good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck 155 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 George Carlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightscape94 965 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 OrmandyStokowskiKarajanJansonsHaitinkRattleMackerrasBoulezBernstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,540 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Love the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, no conductor, non whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bespin 8,675 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Love Karajan for Beethoven. For me he's the Master of transitions.For Beethoven Symphonies, I really love Osmo Vanska too. He's the master of nuances :-)Concerning Bach cantatas, I love John Eliot Gardiner and Philippe Herreweghe. Leonard Bernstein is actually my favourite conductor concerning Mahler Symphonies.A conductor that I begin to follow is Yannick Nézet-Seguin (Brucker, Mahler, Brahms), a fellow Quebecois with great great great potential.Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle are amongs conductors I really can't bear when they try to direct Beethoven or Mozart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,208 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Love the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, no conductor, non whatsoever.I hate conducters. Mostly they only ruin the music for their narsistic and egoistic needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,236 Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Mostly? I'd say that's quite an exaggeration. Maybe some of the most visible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 10,316 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 When it came to Vaughn Williams, Vernon Handley always got the best out of the Liverpool Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpiritOf77 2 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Nobody shouting up for Barenboim? I was lucky enough to be at his Ring cycle at the BBC Proms last July and he was... well, I actually can't tell you how good he was. Beyond my powers of description. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,900 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 It very much depends on the type of music. Overall, I'm a Karajan fan, though I'm getting more suspicious of his pre-Romantic interpretations. But his Bruckner and Strauss are in the highest class, I love this Ring des Nibelungen and I'm fond of his Beethoven, and much more. For Bruckner (my special favourite), other standouts are Celibidache (his Munich 4th coda and 7th are, to my knowledge, *the* best pieces of music ever recorded) and Wand (who recorded the symphony cycle nearly 3 times, and he only started in his 60s - the opening horn of his Berlin 4th is incredibly beautiful). Thielemann seems to take after Celibidache in his Bruckner performances (I've heard fantastic fantastic a 7 and 8 live by him, though the last time I heard him I was seriously underwhelmed), and Rattle seems to have a good to great grasp on all sorts of things from Bruckner to Mahler to Stravinsky to Walton and Janacek. Among my other favourite recordings are Kempe's Ariadne auf Naxos, Alpensinfonie and Lohengrin, and his other Strauss is certainly worthwhile (if mostly not quite up to Karajan's level), but I know little else of what he has done. Nobody shouting up for Barenboim? I was lucky enough to be at his Ring cycle at the BBC Proms last July and he was... well, I actually can't tell you how good he was. Beyond my powers of description. He seems to be doing very good Wagner (don't know too much; sadly, his fantastic Holländer is harmed by an awful Senta) and Bruckner (again don't know too much, though I've been eyeing his complete symphony cycle for many years now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 10,316 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Nobody shouting up for Barenboim? I was lucky enough to be at his Ring cycle at the BBC Proms last July and he was... well, I actually can't tell you how good he was. Beyond my powers of description.Too showy for my tastes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,208 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 the opening horn of his Berlin 4th is incredibly beautifulMostly because of the great hornplayer, my friend Markus Maskuniitty, who was a principal horn back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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