As been stated before by me - newbie to Classical music (though I am a quick study) and I apologize if this particular subject has been done (or done to death) before. Currently I am learning about various comductors - the legends mainly and what music they are best for.

Currently my favorites I've had a chance to experience at least a couple of recordings with so far include:

Karajan
Bernstein
Harnoncourt
Kleiber
Dorati

I would be interested in other's feedback on what conductors they like - and for which composers. For example - due to recommendations from these forums I bought Klieber's Beethoven 5 & 7 (on DG with the Vienna Philharmonica) and absolutely love it and has far outstripped any other recordings I've heard.

So I am basically hoping to glean further recommendations and directions to look and research in for future purchases - especially with the sale coming in May at Barnes and Noble (buy 2 get 1 free classical CD's).

Thanks in advance for your input!

My favorites include Fritz Reiner, Georg Solti, Rafael Kubelik who I once saw conduct the San Francisco Symphony in the complete "Ma Vlast" by Smetana, and a more recent conducter Donald Runnicles. He did a really good Mahler 5th with the Dallas Symphony. My friend who is assistant concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony told me he thought the best was Valery Gergiev and my friend played in the New York Philharmonic under Bernstein as well as many other conducters before going to Dallas. I also really enjoyed Ricardo Chailly. I saw him conduct the Royal Concertgebouw in New York when they played the best Brahms 2nd Symphony possible. I have witnessed great performances of all of the above. I have also purchased recordings conducted by most of them.

Regarding Karajan. He made the BPO a world leader, he was charismatic and produced the rich string section sound that the BPO became loved for he also did a lot of work with the VPO, his championing of Anne Sophie Mutter must have been a great boost to her career, If you get the chance have a listen to the CD : Mendelssohn-Bruch Violin Concertos with Mutter on Violin recorded in 1981 a reissue was DG 400-031-2 it may have been reissued again by now!

SamGuss, you might also want to check some of the older conductors (that is, if you don't mind mediocre sound quality), like:

Wilhelm Furtwängler
Arturo Toscanini
Fritz Reiner

Also, check out Marriner/Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, especially for their Baroque performances.

I like different conductors for different reasons,

Karajan for his work with the BPO and generally having top-rate peformances of most of the hardcore reportoire.

Otto Klemperer for his attention to orchestral balance and detail. (And for a unique approach to Beethoven)

Eugen Jochum for beautifully crafted performances of, again, most of the reportoire (especially Bruckner and Haydn)

Bernstein for his attempt to bring some of the more fringe composers, for ex. Mahler to mass attention.

Others I like are Simon Rattle, Nicholas Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis and Celibidache for his sheer cantankerous stand against commercialism in Music.

Lots of interesting observations here!

I suppose the best-represented conductors in my collection are Karajan and Solti. That having been said, let me respond to the following...

1) Fritz Reiner stereo CDs do NOT have a "mediocre sound." (I don't think their sonics deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Furtwängler or Toscanini, where you're guaranteed a mono recording.)

2) Mahler, of course, is fringe repertoire no more. I understand that the conventional wisdom is that Bernstein played a huge role in its advocacy... but let's just say that reasonable minds can disagree on the extent and historical importance of that advocacy.

3) Furtwängler was, for me, an acquired taste. I wouldn't recommend it in the early days of building a collection. (If you can find someone [e.g.: a library] to loan you Furtwängler, perhaps sample a little, on a cost-free basis, and make up your own mind.)

4) For core mid-Romantic repertoire, Eugene Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra recordings are almost uniformly grotesquely underrated [in my dilettente opinion, of course.]. Also, whenever you find them, they will almost certainly be value-priced.

Mahler was a fringe composer?!

Yes, I think so, (emphasize WAS). Compared to say Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and so forth... Wasn't there a time when somebody said, the public will get over the "phase" of Mahler..Well thankfully, together with Bruckner we haven't!...

Thank you all for your input and suggestions - I will be definately checking out many of these!

When you think about, it wasn't all that bad. Bach (BACH!) was forgotten after his death for nearly a century, until young Mendelssohn came along.

_________________________________________

I apologise for the digression, SamGuss.

Interesting, Chi. I first heard Wagner and both Beethoven and Bruckner's 9th on WF recordings. These were the recordings that really got me into classical music (or, for any Laputans out there, "Western Art Music").

Also, I wasn't implying Fritz Reiner's recordings to have "mediocre" sound... that was more directed at WF and Toscanini. It's just that many listeners like audiophile-quality sound... and thus might turn away even from Reiner's stereo recordings.

__________________
Take a look at the Bandit's blog, The Classical Corner.

I'm not a true audiophile in the sense of technology, but do like to listen to the best of the best. I'm not for mono recordings though (at least not at the moment) all that much though. As long as it is in stereo and I can get it on CD - I am good to go.

Thanks for your input on these. I've flagged the following for possible buys in the near future based on your suggestion here. Any fine tuning?

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=94844

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...?album_id=9532

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=52115

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=62837 - I think I saw you recommend this on another thread?

These seemed like an incredible deal:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...lbum_id=136206

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...lbum_id=169507

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

Some really good conductors mentioned here. Some of the (other) conductors to whom I remain loyal include:

Bruno Walter (par. Brahms and Beethoven's early symphonies)
Herbert Blomstedt (par. Carl Nielsen)
Michael Tilson Thomas (variety)
Claudio Abbado (variety)
Esa-Pekka Salonen (variety)
Günter Wand (par. Bruckner and Schumann)

Reiner's recordings of the music of Richard Strauss are amazing.

Of course, Arturo Toscanini's traversals of Beethoven were/are legendary (and you can get them from Amazon for just $20 for all nine).

Bernstein's Mahler is rather polarized, but I love it.