Best 20th century conductor?

[Agathon]

Salonen is a bit of a weirdo (hated his Mahler 4).

I don't share the negative appraisal of Karajan, his Richard Strauss recordings from the early seventies are very good IMHO.

It's nice to see Barbirolli on the list - the owner of the record store I patronised back in NZ played under him a few times. I find I have many recordings by him.

Ditto Reiner.

What about Sir Thomas Beecham and Sir Adrian Boult? Kubelik (his Mahler 1 has no peer).

Again - I violently disagree about Stravinsky.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
You've never heard of Toscanini?

I actually have a few old records of Toscanini. Emperor concerto is one.

He was good! Very good!

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
DL!



(the above was danced to the Sabre Dance by Kachachturian)

He may be a DL, but he's got a good point.

ACK!

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ned
I actually have a few old records of Toscanini. Emperor concerto is one.

He was good! Very good!

RCA has been releasing digitally remastered CDs of his symphonic works, and they are absolutely wonderful additions to any classical library. The recordings with the NBC Studio Orchestra have amazing clarity, and except for a slight tinniness to the strings, you would be amazed they were recorded in the early 1950s.

The Brahms symphonies are a steal at $15 for all four on two discs. Toscanini leads the third symphony so well that its hair-raising.

Re Karajan: He was at his best in the late Romantic repetoire, such as Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss. But he fares much worse in earlier classical works, Italian opera and pretty much anything not German. I dislike his Beethoven and Brahms, and his Mozart is appalling. He conducts Mozart like he conducts Wagner, which doesn't work. Karajan's stabs at Verdi are also far too loud and overdone in terms of the orchestra. He also seemed to choose unflattering singers for roles in opera (e.g. his Don Carlos). Of great surprise is that his Decca recording from the 1970 Salzburg Festival of Boris Godunov isn't that good, either, despite a stellar cast that included Nicolai Ghauirov, Martti Talvela and Galina Vishnevskaya. He takes ploddingly slow tempos and the whole thing seems uninspired.

Besides, Strauss is one of those conductors of whom one can find him conducting his own works, and he's damn good, too!

[monolith94]

Leopold! Leopold! [/dramatic whisper]
Hey Boris, what online places could I find this easily in to buy?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by monolith94
Leopold! Leopold! [/dramatic whisper]
Hey Boris, what online places could I find this easily in to buy?

To find what?

[monolith94]

that 4-disc toscanini you said was "hair-rising"
I want to see if it really is.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by monolith94
that 4-disc toscanini you said was "hair-rising"
I want to see if it really is.

http://www.towerrecords.com/product.asp?pfid=1541329

[monolith94]

sweet! thankness

[Boris Godunov]

The sound clips on the site do not reflect the quality of the recordings well at all.

[monolith94]

I'll keep that in mind

[The Vagabond]

Rastropovich has been omitted.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by The Vagabond
Rastropovich has been omitted.

Too narrow. Maybe if he did something besides late Romantic Russian music...

[The Vagabond]

He cannot be narrow. He conducted the National Symphony Orchestra itself!

[Boris Godunov]

Yeah...in Romantic Russian repetoire, no doubt!

Actually, Rostropovich deserves mention, as does another overlooked Russian, Valery Gergiev.

In fact, here are more potential names for the list:

Richard Strauss
John Eliott Gardner
Pierre Boulez
Fritz Busch
Sir Colin Davis
Victor de Sabata
Rudolf Kempe
Erich Kleiber (Carlos's father)
Hans Knappertsbusch
Josef Krips
Erich Leinsdorf
Sir Charles Mackerras
Dimitri Mitropoulos
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Thomas Schippers
Tullio Serafin