I recently noticed that the Ormandy/Philadelphia Swan Lake extended excerpts were among the "recommended recordings" in the NPR Guide. So- one of my favorites has some well-distributed advocacy.

The Mendelssohn/Tchaikovsky recording cited was how I was introduced to those pieces. I had that disc back in the Age of Vinyl. Isaac Stern is on the short list of great violinists of the previous century. Henry Roth (in Great Violinists in Performance) had good things to say about this pairing.

I don't have experience with the remaining recordings. I would, however, counsel caution regarding that 4-disc Ormandy set, which consists of war-time and post-war mono material.

On DVDs I like Karajan the best, followed by Bernstein. Live concerts I've seen Sir Collin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Simon Rattle (I had no idea he had so much facial expression while conducting since we saw his back only, until I bought his Mahler 5 DVD), and Valery Gergiev, who, I must say has become my current favourite conductor.

Two conductors whose names I haven't seen come up are Neema Jarvi who has a large number of recordings often of lesser heard music which are very well played and a man who died quite young a number of years ago. Istvan Kertesz would have been one of the greatest if he had not drowned in the Mediterenean Sea along the coast of Israel years ago. From time to time I hear recordings of works he conducted played on the radio.

Some of the contemporary conductors for whom I have a special affinity are:

Colin Davis (especially Sibelius)
Riccardo Chailly (especially Bruckner)
Gerard Schwarz (Diamond, Piston, Hanson)

Of those who are no longer with us on Earth:

Sinopoli, Boult, Klemperer, Kleiber, Jochum

I have some Cds by the Seattle Symphony with the music of Howard Hanson conducted by Gerard Schwarz as well as others with Piston and Diamond. I have had a fondness for American composers since my teens. Naxos has a series of American classics which also include works by Paul Creston, Eliott Carter, and Roy Harris. I had the good fortune to attend concerts where Aaron Copland conducted his own music several times and recordings conducted by him are also available.

I also vote for Carlos Kleiber: everything that he did is wonderful! I had the fortune of seeing him in three of his scarce concerts, which count among the deepest musical impressions of my life. His father, Erich Kleiber, is also one of the most important conductors of his century: he left us some unrivalled opera recordings (Figaro and Rosenkavalier), his high voltage Beethoven, his stylish Mozart, his quite personal manner of rendering the Strauss waltzes...

Celibidache... the other giant, although not to all tastes! He was a magician of the sound. At least, for me he is the very first option in Bruckner, French music, some Russians (I think I have not yet recovered from the commotion his Tchaikovski's Fifth left on me, splendid Sixth as welll) and full coloured works (Sheherezade).

Furtwängler, Toscanini, Klemperer, Karajan, Mitropoulos, Horenstein, Giulini, Walter.. all of them names of a golden era that will never return.

Zubin Mehta, Georg Solti.

If you want, as you say, to read up on the "legends", I think Toscanini & Furtwangler are a must.

15 (or 16) Great Conductors and why I like them:

1. Leopold Stokowski: I think his transcriptions are a riot, but when he stayed faithful to the score, he could be pretty exciting.

2. Gunter Wand: I love his Bruckner, but his Beethoven 9th was really great too.

3. Herbert Blomstedt: Beethoven cycle with Dresden Staatskapelle, and his terrific work in San Francisco (admirably continued by M. Tilson Thomas)

4. Otto Klemperer: His Beethovn and Brahms, along with surprises like Dvorak and Mendelssohn

5. Carlos Kleiber: His Beethoven 5th, obviously. I love his New Years concerts and Brahms as well.

6. Eugene Ormandy: Underrated was posted earlier in the thread, and is the understatement of the classical music world. Simply oustanding playing of all music. Possibly one of the best accompnimists the musical world produced.

7. George Szell: Equally exciting even oustide of Cleveland, his performances in Europe testify to a diverse conductor who could even go as far as Handel.

8. Herbert v. Karajan: Not my favorite, but god could he coax some beautiful sounds. An outstanding Opera and Lied conductor as well.

9. Mstlav Rostropovich: His knowledge of Russian music was undisputed, and his success on the podium showed what an outstanding all-around musician he was.

10. Fritz Reiner: If I wasn't so poor, I'm almost certain I could find better speakers. And If I had better speakers, I could blow off the roof of my home with "The Pines of Rome" which has the musical intensity of a small bomb.

11. Charles Munch: Mainly known for French music (I could also blow off the roof with the "Organ Symphony"), he was also flexible, conducting a fiery Beethoven 9th, and making Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony interesting.

12. Aaron Copland/Igor Stravinsky: Two musical giants who didn't always know how to get the results they wanted on the podium. So Copland's recordings in particular can come off as a little dull. Still, there are many things to cherish with both men.

13. Paul Paray: The man who rescued the Detroit Symphony and put Mercury Living Presence on the map. His recordings of French music with artists such as Dupre and Fourrier and simply the best.

14. Rafel Kubelik: One of the few conductors to record the Beethoven 9 with nine different orchestras, he also championed 20th Century music and was a terrific partner with soloists.

15. John Willams- I'll get shot for this I'm sure, but Williams understanding of human emotion (heroism, fear, celebration) has been key to every film score from Jaws to Harry Potter. His ability to translate his musical ideas to the podium is something even Copland and Stravinsky failed to master as well. Therefore, Williams is a personal favorite, and I believe, a fitting end to my list.

I'm sure this recommendation will not go unnoticed:

Osmo Vänskä is really starting to come out into the "mainstream" (though I'm ashamed to say it; his Sibelius is surely among if not the best!) classical music; he has recently recorded the Beethoven cycle with the Minnesota Orchestra, of which he is now the director. Before he went to MN, he directed the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, with which he made his legendary Sibelius recordings, as well as several other Finnish (and other Nordic) composers such as Rautavaara, Kalevi Aho, and Kajanus. He is a genuinely electrifying conductor to listen to; I may be so bold as to compare him (favorably!) to Arturo Toscanini and Fritz Reiner, yet not as heartless as their two styles often are called.

I'll just shut up now; this is already the longest single recommendation on this thread (but well worth it!!!).

__________________
"Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n
wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!"
-Gustav Mahler

I love Wand's Bruckner. You should hear him conducting Schumann, as well (perhaps after hearing Karajan, who is much more prolific)

I have never heard that cycle...[now I have a sudden urge to get it]. Blomstedt's Nielsen, however, overwhelmingly overshadows every other such recording in existence.



Conductors directing works written by their own nationals may not always be the "best" performance according to most people. Although, in some cases, it may be.

I've heard that's true of English composers/conductors. They apparently are very boring... Though I think the Finns are the best conductors of Sibelius by far. Everybody else makes it sound less Sibelian.

I'm very curious about this conductor.. The only thing of his I've ever listened to is a glowing live performance (1940) of Till Eulenspiegel, with the Concertgebouw.

It's been a couple of months since I started this thread and here is where I stand with some conductors at this point.

Herbert von Karajan:

I like this guy. He is one of my "go to" conductors and so far, I haven't had any let downs. There are some composers I prefer other conductors for, but he is one of my main conductors I enjoy. In particular I enjoy his Dvorak, Beethoven, Ravel, Mussorsky and even his Vilvaldi.

Leonard Bernstein:

Another of my "go to" conductors and I enjoy most of his Mahler, Shostakovich and his Beethoven 9th.

Nickolaus Harnoncourt:

I only have one of his works: Dvorak No. 9 but this particular CD was such a momentum driver for my love of classical music that I still rank him high on the list, despite only having heard this one piece by him (well and Water Goblin).

Erich and Carlos Kleiber:

I am hard pressed who does a better Beethoven 5. Awesome.

Kurt Massur:

His Shostakovich's are inspirational.

Karl Bohm:

Espoecially his Bruckner but also his Beethoven, especially his Beethoven 4th.

Yoel Levi and George Szell:

Go-to conductors if I just can't figure out which conductor to go with, I'll seek these guys out. Good stuff consistantly.

Rafael Kubelik:

OUTSTANDING. Can't say it clearer than that :P

__________________
Remember the 3 SW's: Some Will, Some Won't, So What!

Regarding Karajan: I've noticed that, on YouTube (Yes, I know it's a little tacky!) that the comments section seem to be full of people who are, shall we be polite, new or have not too much appreciation of classical music.
This has both things for and against: You could say that K has brought classical music to the attention of the masses, which is a good thing. Or you could say that he has brought a certain cheapness to the art, depending on which way you look at it..

Rather than compile a list of "favourite" musicians, be they conductors, pianists or whatever, based on a single performance or their interpretation of one composer's work, I tend to base my preferences on what I know or can gather about the artistes attitude and approach to music, be it composer specific or in general terms.
Karajan for instance, towards the end of his career, became more and more obsessed with the idea of preserving the visual performance for posterity rather than the sound. Yes, he did do wonderful things with and for the BPO whilst he was at the helm, but in my opinion (NB) I suspect he was driven more by ego than any other factor.
I can't help noticing the number of "older generation" conductors mentioned in this thread and surely there is a conclusion to be drawn from that fact. I am old enough to look back over the last 40 some years and recall the conductors who have stayed the course and those who, after much initial fanfare, fell by the wayside. Back in the 1980's there appeared a number of conductors (some names appearing in this thread), who would quite happily have conducted lightning had their recording companies promised the necessary amount of publicity and exposure. For a couple of years or so they were at the forefront, recording anything and everything, but to fall back on a cliche, where are they now. They may be still conducting, but what happened to take them out of the first (sometimes even second) rank.
What then is so special about the likes of Klemperer, Bohm, Jochum and many others too numerous to list, whose careers in many cases spanned over 50 years. They must all have been guilty at some time of giving a lacklustre performance or making a recording that was less than well received by the critics, but some are still with us giving their best and those that are no longer here would be gratified to see their recordings still selling.
Klemperer's Beethoven or Solti's Wagner may not be to everyone's taste but, at the end of the day, their reputation and standing is based very firmly, NOT on an individual performance or recording which happens to suit the fashion of the day, but rather on a lifetime of dedication, craftsmanship and continuous learning.
I think it is wrong to base one's judgement of a conductor on a single performance, we all have good days and bad days whatever we do. I recall in the 1980's, DG released Carlos Kleibers Beethoven 5 and the plaudits were poured on him, similarly his later recording of the 7th. They may have been exceptional performances, but given the scant amount of time (unlike his father) that he spends in the studio or on the podium, I think it very unfair that he is regarded as great conductor purely on the basis of less than a handful of performances. On the other side of the coin are musicians such as Charles Mackerras and Colin Davis, both in their 80's, both performing and recording and with a lifetime of experience who have perhaps recieved only a fraction of the accolades doled out for a mere 2 recordings.
Quick question for World Violist: You say "Apparently English conductors are very boring". The word "apparently" suggests to me that you haven't really listened to English conductors but are basing an implied criticism on either hearsay or bias. Perhaps you could qualify the statement to give your comment some weight. It would also be interesting to see your definition of boring when applied to a conductor.