who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
Fri, Apr 9 2010, 10:37PM
I think Abbado.He has a thorough sense of style(his mendelssohn,brahms,schubert..sound diffrent).He knows his limitations.He is not a recording or set making maniac. He developes his interpretations (compare to Karajan).
Sat, Apr 10 2010, 8:47PM
#2
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
I would say Lorin Maazel.
Sat, Apr 10 2010, 9:34PM
#3
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
Bernard Haitink comes to mind, although Lorin Maazel cannot be dismissed from consideration. However, I would have to say Haitink has more and generally better recordings, especially those with the Concertgebouw.
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 1:11AM
#4
RE: Home
A tricky, if not simply impossible (even pointless?), question to answer - much like the "greatest [living] guitarist" question beloved of other music magazine/forums.
I suppose it all depends on what you look for in a conductor and what you regard as "standard repetoire".
Do you want a conductor who's 'conventional', or one who takes risks? Both could be regarded as 'great' - or they could be dismissed as either 'unadventurous' or 'too adventurous', depending on the outcome.
And there's a real sense in which conductors define what's 'standard'. Playing safe, or pushing the envelope?
Maazel & Mackerras are both outstanding. And I think Marin Alsop will prove to be truly first rate with 'standard repetoire' in time (eg, her Brahms symphony cycle).
But looking for just one "greatest" is a snare and a delusion. There really isn't one, and it could distract from hearing some wonderful music conducted by someone who didn't make an essentially arbitrary 'cut'.
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 4:45AM
#5
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
I'll pick Neemi Jarvi. From his recordings of the music of Estonian composers (Auster, Kapp, Raats), through his Glazunov, through Alfven, through Sibelius, through Stenhammar, through Dvorak, through Still, and so forth, I cannot think of any living conductor as adventurous and broad-ranged as him. And yet he's great in standard repetoire as well (to answer the question more directly).
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 9:03AM
#6
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
I agree totally with SpiderJon, the regrettable search for The Greatest sometimes obscures our view of The Interesting and The Challenging.
When I started buying records as a teenager there was no question in my mind as to the greatest conductor...Karajan. It had to be Karajan because everybody was telling me so, bolstered by bludgeoning marketing. Solti was up there too. It was all to do with marketing, and I also regret using the Penguin Stereo Guides as some sort of Bible, with their "star rating" league tables. Two-star records, in my mind, just weren't worth bothering with.
One of the great boons of the CD era has been the re-issuing of recordings by less well-known conductors such as Scherchen, Konwitschny, Schuricht, Kletzki, Rodzinski as well as more famous ones whose recordings didn't always make the 3-star rating... the playing field seems more level these days, and critics do seem to be more even-handed.
It's a much healthier environment....and Karajan? While I still treasure many of his recordings, I can see his pros and cons in better perspective. With 18 Tchaikovsky Fifths in my collection (instead of just HvK's) I feel I have a more balanced view of the piece.
Conductors should, of course, be recognised for lifelong outstanding achievement, but never should there be a Greatest.
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 9:37AM
#7
RE: Home RE: Home
SpiderJon,
I agree entirely: this comes from the world of ClassicFM and a passion for list-making and league tables. There are a large number of modifying factors, some objective and some subjective. What orchestra are they conducting? Should we give especial credit to a conductor who has not just taken over a well-honed insrument like the Berlin (Rattle) but has transformed a hitherto average orchestra into a really good one (Rattle, this time at the CBSO).
What is their repertoire? Do we give especial credit to the specialist (e.g. of Russian works, such as Ashkenazy, Gergiev) or should we prefer conductors who have strengths in several periods (e.g.Mackerras)?
At best, we could draw up a list of perhaps twenty or thirty conductors who could be counted as great, with perhaps the same number who may very well be 'great' later. But even then, I am dubious.
Maybe we should leave it as a purely subjective thing, and talk about personal favourites without leaving hostages to fortune by nominating 'great', or 'greatest' conductors
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 2:32PM
#8
RE: Home
"Karajan because everybody was telling me so, bolstered by bludgeoning marketing. Solti was up there too."
You have forgotten Bernstein - though he did a lot of self-marketing. Joking aside, I don't think anyone gets a big name and retains it for decades without having considerable merit.
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 6:57PM
#9
RE: Home
You have forgotten Bernstein - though he did a lot of self-marketing. Joking aside, I don't think anyone gets a big name and retains it for decades without having considerable merit.
As if I could forget Lenny! But I'm racking my brains to think of a single one of his recordings I'd recommend as the sole representation of a piece in somebody's collection (maybe the DG Mahler 5....?) However, I treasure many of his sometimes eccentric, sometimes outrageous performances over some by more sober interpreters. His DG Pathetique may be the slowest ever, but I personally find it absolutely compelling....but not to be copied by lesser mortals, and certainly not the only version to have in your library!
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 7:17PM
#10
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
Bernstein was fantastic but died in 1990 which is a slight impediment to be the greatest living conductor. Where have you been for 20 years?
For the older regime here in the UK Colin Davies and Sir Charles Mackerras ride supreme for me. Otherwise Jansons, Maazel, Masur, Haitink, Rozhdestkensky, Berglund look pretty fine to me. Plenty of younger talent on the way through too - Elder, Aramo, Salonen, Petrenko. Sorry if I have forgotten someone,
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 7:52PM
#11
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
Tony, let me add Ivan Fischer to your distinguished list of fresher faces. It seems Maestro Fischer can, (IMO,) do most if not all of the "basic repertoire" - Beethoven, Mahler, Dvorak and so on. Best, Hal.
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 8:01PM
#12
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
Yes Tony,I think you have forgotten one of the younger generation and that is Daniel Harding.He´s still rather young and I think he will have a fantastic career in years to come.
Sun, Apr 11 2010, 11:42PM
#13
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
Bernstein was fantastic but died in 1990 which is a slight impediment to be the greatest living conductor. Where have you been for 20 years?
Sorry, lured off-topic slightly there by Adrian3.
I agree that Sir Colin Davis has exhibited considerable mastery in the standard concert and operatic repertoire... he must be in the pantheon.
Being a scouser I'm a great admirer of Petrenko; but it's early days yet!
Mon, Apr 12 2010, 12:00AM
#14
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
I should add some remarks about my question.Of course music is different from sports and you can not say who is definietly the best in an objective way.If I were in forties I could not ask this question because the styles and goals of different cundoctors were basically different.You can not compare toscanini and furtwangler and say who is the best,because their styles are different.But these days most of the conductors have the same style and goal in the standard repertoire(I mean the most performed symphonies ,concertos ,operas).They want to perform the music in a precise and objective way ,so their results somehow sound similare.(How many of us can detect the conductor between recordings of beethoven 5 by maazel,haitink,muti and sawallish easily?).So I think that it is not an absurd or completely journalistic question.In another way if you buy a collection of symphonies and operas.. (nearly 70 cds)by each of living conductors and compare them,which one do you think will remain more interesting musically and less predictable and boring.
Mon, Apr 12 2010, 8:14AM
#15
RE: who is the greatest living conductor of standard repertoire?
Not one, but many. Just as classical music is conceived today, multiple interpretations of masterpieces! So here is my top list;
Rolf
While music is not a sport, and there never can be a "greatest" anything, Sir Charles Mackerras has to be in the running for the top echelon. Superb in everything from Janacek to G&S, his Beethoven and Mozart with the SCO rank with the best.
There are marvellous recordings of him in the "standard" repertoire (Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Stravinsky, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov - a great Telarc "Scheherazade") - but all dotted about on various labels and sometimes hard to find.
I'm not disputing Abbado's greatness, either. His Mahler with the Lucerne orchestra in particular is outstanding.