Classical Music Conductors

[woolly17]

There seems to be little interest in classical music in the ranks of AB readers (apart from Invictas a couple of years ago), so let me start the ball rolling ...

Would you agree with me that the so-called 'great' conductors of the past, eg Ansermet, Beecham, Boult, Furtwangler, von Karajan, etc, were considered great by virtue of their force of character/personality, rather than their interpretation of the composers' ideas? I have been collecting recordings of classical music for more than 40 years, and I avoid anything recorded before about 1970 for that very reason, and because I believe that more modern conductors/orchestras/performances are more 'historically-informed'; so my list of top conductors would include the following ...

André Previn, with the London Symphony Orchestra,
Charles Dutoit, with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra,
Vernon Handley, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic,
and for the Baroque era, Trevor Pinnock, with the English Concert.

Over to you ...

[Chinajan]

I like classical music but must admit I don't know enough about conductors to tell the difference. What do you mean by 'more historically informed'?

[FredPuli43]

Yes, I agree. First time that I heard Furtwangler, I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. Conductors were almost household names and people knew the conductor's names more than they did the orchestras. The
conductors definitely encouraged what we might now call "a cult of the personality". You could say with certainty who was conducting, and within a few bars, even if the piece had been rendered unrecognisable !

[Mrsspagnoli57]

I'm not sure I understand all of your post but I do agree that conductors were great 'personalities' in the past. I particularly love opera and have many recordings/DVD's. My own personal list would include:
George Solti, Edward Downes, Antonio Pappano, Riccardo Muti, Valeryi Gergiev , James Levine and Marco Armiliato-all of whom have brought me great pleasure in their interpretations. I too searched for any classical music threads to no avail.

[tamborine]

Dont forget Rupert Cambell Black who had the full orchestra and lots of fans. He will be next on the 'Yew Tree'...

[ladybirder]

I've got a soft spot for Rattle and Solti. Kiri te kanawa said Solti would always run his hand up and down her arm when talking to her, with the usual twinkle in his eye of course.

[mikey4444]

Solti's interpretation of the Ring Cycle has always struck me as the ultimate in recordings that are available today.

And when it comes to force of personality, it doesn't come any stronger that Sir George ! He wasn't called The Screaming Skull for nothing.

Check out the famous Decca recordings ::::



Its got Birgit Nillson as well !

[Mrsspagnoli57]

Agree about Sir George Solti-what a character!