The OTHER 10 Greatest LIVING Conductors (Viewer's Choice)

[@dominicfyfe8524]

Hello Dave, this is Dominic Fyfe, head of the Decca Classics label in London. Delighted to see the inclusion of Seiji Ozawa here and your comments about his Saito Kinen legacy. I have been his producer there since 2003 and also for his more recent recordings with the Mito Chamber Orchestra where we made a Beethoven Ninth and concertos with Martha Argerich. And guess what: they're all on Decca! By all means critique us, but moribund? So far this year we've had Lise Davidsen in Grieg songs with Leif Ove Andsnes; Mitsuko Uchida in the Diabelli Variations; the new Ruth Slenczynska album out today and a complete Sibelius cycle from the Oslo Philharmonic and our new conductor Klaus Makela. We're alive and well. Greetings from London.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank you. That's very good to know. I think, though, I was wondering about what was going on with Chailly, not Ozawa.

[@flowsouth8496]

I think that expression is entirely appropriate. Many classical music listeners, myself included, think of the "major labels" as catalogues of great recordings from times past. For new releases we look to other labels like Naxos, Chandos, CPO, BIS and many others. It's great that you signed Klaus Makela and recorded the Sibelius symphonies, but one swallow does not a summer make. Look at DG and how they have ruined their reputation over the last decades by promoting gimmick artists like Lang Lang and Gustavo Dudamel and recently non-classical artists like Moby.

[@MrInterestingthings]

OMG Uchida doing the Diabelli. I hadn't heard about this ! Can't wait to scoop it up !

[@tedmann1802]

I was particularly happy to see that Gerard Schwarz made the list. I especially enjoy his recordings of Howard Hanson, on the Delos label.

[@griselidis1]

I'm a big fan of Sir Antonio Pappano and Sir Mark Elder....both wonderfully "expressive" moulders of sound.

[@willgreencinema]

HEY DAVE!!! Great video!!! So glad my Verdi conductor made it, Riccardo Muti - Molto Bene !!! LOVE IT DAVE!!! See you next time!

[@vincentspinelli9995]

Thanks very much for doing "the other 10 greatest!" agree totally about the early music group. Apples and oranges. Am glad to see some of my favorites here, especially Witt. I think he is an amazing talent.

[@melissaking6019]

Glad Neeme Jarvi made the list. His recodings of Rimsky-Korsakov's lesser-known works are revelatory and gorgeous!

[@vKarl71]

Dohnanyi did a live broadcast with Cleveland of the LvB 7th that I walked in on at the beginning of the last movement. By the end I was jumping up & down & screaming. The most exciting LvB symphonic performance I've ever heard.

[@georgesdelatour]

Absolutely agree about Antoni Wit!

[@FlaneurSolitaire]

I might have mentioned Herreweghe or Savall, but I really get your point re the ancient music people. There really was only one example of somebody who came from that world, built his career from there, and then branched out into more recent music and showed himself to be as versatile and inspired across a vast range of music as somebody like Mackerras: Harnoncourt.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Exactly.

[@yomibraester5063]

Glad to see the expanded list! "The so-and-so-many best" should be counted with one's toes as well.

[@IrishVader]

Great list(s) David. I understand why he isn't on this list, but Kirill Petrenko has consistently impressed me with his work with the Berliners, especially his Tchaikovsky and his work with composers like Suk

[@petertaplin4365]

Dutoit is a notable omission. He is a much respected conductor by many orchestral musicians around the world, and those 25 years in Montreal shouldn't be overlooked.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Why not? Who cares what happens in Montreal?

[@mrbourru2104]

Christophe Huss does. 😁

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@mrbourru2104 That's his job. It isn't mine.

[@TCFFR]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Because Dutoit in certain areas can stand comparisons with anyone.

[@olliepops1124]

Love Alsop’s inclusion here, Mr. Hurwitz! I loved the Dvorak Symphony 6 she did, but it’s unfortunately the only one of hers I have heard with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (where she seems to have become quite a beloved figure). I have a bit of a sleeper suggestion from Alsop’s discography, and that’s her Harris Symphonies nos. 3 & 4, and particularly no. 3 (the one with more competition for being the best). Like a number of her recordings, the 3rd and 4th Harris Symphonies she did were a Naxos release, and the Colorado Symphony she conducts sounds full and gorgeous. She did one or two later Harris Symphonies with a different orchestra, and they were very nice too, but no. 3 and no. 4 are golden. Curious whether you have heard much from Edusei, Mr. Hurwitz? Any thoughts or suggestions on him would be so appreciated.

[@damiangruszczynski7451]

Thank you Dave! I’ve just send link to this talk to Maestro Wit - I had an honour to do video - interview with him last December

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thanks!

[@janouglaeser8049]

Great video as always, really glad you made this second part! I would have expected Barenboim and Segerstam, but that's just me. Perhaps for the third part? ;-) PS: what do you think about Ashkenazy as a conductor?

[@rbmelk7083]

Not sure what Dave would say, but my unsolicited opinion on Ashkenazy is that he is very good, but his Rachmaninoff is the best out there.

[@pauloqueiroz9611]

Gerard Schwarz is great! Love his Naxos recordings of American music! Seiji Ozawa, Yay! Wonderful recordings indeed! Sensitive when it's warranted! Zubin Mehta is a marvelous energetic conductor, without being violent as Solti (Lol) His operas are incredible. His Turandot is the best overall for me! Of course Nilsson is THE Turandot of the 20th century, but Mehta with the LSO is just glittering!

[@pauloqueiroz9611]

@@carlosrobertobarbosamoreir9030 true!! It was a mistype, I meant LPO😉

[@TheCastlepoet]

I figured that names such as Muti and Mehta were excluded from the original list on the basis that their heyday is well behind them (but hey, that nonagenarian whippersnapper Blomstedt is still enjoying his heyday, and so are we). . . and to allow you to focus on some less obvious but very worthy conductors. I confess that I'm still chuckling at the obvious omissions from this list. E.g., the ultra-prolific and ubiquitous Danny Boy (dubbed "the Sausage King" by Bernard Michael O'Hanlon); the almost-as-ubiquitous Snazzy-Segan; the jet-setting Dude; and of course The Dude's mentor, darling Sir Simon! Taken in total, these guys must have made at least half a gazillion recordings by now. I find it quite interesting and telling that them who get the most PR hype and the biggest and bestest contracts from Major Labels receive little acclaim here--proof that discerning listeners can see (and hear) the emperor's clothes for what they are? A serious question: What's the deal with Kirill Petrenko? Am I missing something? I was scarcely aware of him before he was annointed chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. But that announcement was accompanied by so much fanfare that one imagined he must be the second coming of Herbert von Karajan or Carlos Kleiber. But no--he scarcely shows up on anyone's radar outside of Berlin. Since taking over the BPO, he's made, what, three recordings? The second coming of Carlos Kleiber indeed!

[@BryanHalo123]

My first recordings on CD were of Mehta. I still listen to him almost 40 years going. Zubin Mehta's Turandot and Mahler 2nd may have lots of competition, but he's tops for me on these and a few other things. Thanks for including him.

[@tom6693]

Agree. I learned a lot of repertoire early on from those Mehta recordings, and they've certainly stood the test of time: the Price Trovatore, the Sutherland Turandot, the Corelli Aida, Mahler, Strauss--well, lots of things. And not that it matters much, but he's also one of the maestros I most liked watching conduct--his fluency and ease and the way he could coax a singing line or generate a real crescendo from the orchestra with his whole body--less effusive than Bernstein and ight years away from Solti's jerky stabs. A wonderful musician overall. So I was really glad to see Dave (and all of us listeners) include him on the list.

[@pauloqueiroz9611]

@@tom6693 Mehta's Opera recordings are a jewell! His Turandot is unsurpassed for the amazing sound of the LPO and his conducting

[@davidhobbs1908]

The only negative about that lovely exercise was learning how many fantastic conductors died in the last few years. They will be missed, but it makes me appreciate the great ones we still have.

[@robertgruver9613]

Your second list has a lot in common with my first, minus Dohnanyi, Alsop, and Schwartz, plus Blomstedt, Honeck, and Chung. Because the general level of playing is so high among musicians, there are many conductors who can get a relatively precise rendering of a score from a competent orchestra nowadays. It is increasingly rare to find conductors who can turn out performances that are both inspired and stylistically appropriate. While some are uneven, like Chung, all have turned out inspired performances that are more than literal realizations of the scores. Others have commented about Muti, Blomstedt, Paavo and Neeme Jarvi and others on my list, and their comments are similar to my thoughts. Myung Whun Chung has also made some remarkable recordings of Brahms and Dvorak available commercially and on KZbin that are exciting and insightful stylistically and gets a place in my top 10.

[@olegroslak852]

Perhaps we just ran out of room, but given how often he was mentioned in the comments to the last video, a little surprised Ivan Fischer didn't make the "11-20". I mean, he got no less than 8 "10/10" reviews on Classicstoday. That said, not sure who on this most recent list ought to make room for him.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It's an problem. Fischer has done fantastic stuff too and I could easily have included him. Maybe we need a top 25 10 Greatest Living Conductors list. I think it just may be that his recent work hasn't impressed me as much as his earlier stuff.

[@sjc1204]

Really good point about Mackerras. I love the Brahms and Mozart cycles he did on Telarc but I also really like his recording of Rusalka and even his Walton record on EMI. I should check out his Planets. I think I might re-evaluate some of the recordings I have with Gardiner.

[@rbmelk7083]

Great video, and point well-taken on the early music conductors! I think this means that there is an opportunity for a top ten list of ensembles that specialize in music written before Berlioz.

[@nathanshaffer3264]

Herreweghe did great Berlioz, though!

[@rbmelk7083]

Yes!!

[@gavingriffiths2633]

Quite puzzled Barenboim still didn't get a 'look in' - surely his first Bruckner cycle, his great series of Wagner operas, his championship of Elgar....and his recent DG Brahms symphonies are worth.....but I seem to be a lone voice!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

He's squandered his talent doing the same stuff over and over and over, and each time worse.

[@gavingriffiths2633]

I agree each Bruckner cycle was worse than the previous one....though I'd still stick up for his Wagner recordings!

[@vKarl71]

I love Mackerras! I heard a great Ozawa/BSO performance at Tanglewood some time ago. I had never been interested in most of his work (apart from Takemitsu) but this one woke me up. Antony Wit did the most idiomatic Mahler 2 since Lenny. Love it. Mehta lost me when I bought a Brahms box by him - shockingly pedestrian (though beautifully recorded). I've always liked the concept of the Orpheus Chamber Orch but I've never found any excitement/intensity in their recordings.

[@tobiasirikura516]

Just saw this video-great choices and would also like to add Iván Fischer to this list!

[@guidepost42]

Off topic, Dave, could you please look at the music of Nicolai Kapustin?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I already have.

[@chuckdorr97]

Gosh, the second 10 makes me think just how quickly I made my list in response to your first 10....all good.... both 10s

[@Plantagenet1956]

I have Wit’s Szymanowski, but those other recordings you’ve mentioned David, I think I’d better hear!

[@rbmelk7083]

If you listen to any other Wit, then start with his Mahler 8. It’s Dave’s top pick, and IMHO second only to Tennstedt with London, which has, and likely always will be my favorite Mahler 8.

[@Plantagenet1956]

@@rbmelk7083 thank you, for that recommendation.

[@bbailey7818]

During the years I was in Seattle, I and many others especially appreciated Gerry Schwarz's devotion to and performance of mid century American composers, Piston, Harris, Hanson, Diamond, Taylor, etc. I had the chance to ask Diamond about Koussevitsky's BSO performance of his 2nd symphony and he thought Schwarz realized it more fully.

[@flowsouth8496]

All the conductors I expected to be in the first list showed up in this list. I enjoyed the comments about early music conductors. Barenboim is notably absent from both lists. I guess his recorded legacy has been too variable in spite of some excellent recordings in the Germanic repertoire.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Exactly.

[@willgreencinema]

I am a more a fan of his piano playing than his conducting. You make a great point. His Beethoven sonatas on the piano are very good! And his duets with Martha Argerich. I love her!

[@danheemstra6349]

I lived in the Twin Cities, MN for a few years and learned to appreciate Osmo Vänskä. His recordings, esp with the Minnesota Orchestra, of Sibelius is top notch. He is recording the Mahler symphonies and I am also appreciating his interpretations, esp. 2 and 4.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I don't know what you learned about him live, but those recordings are pretty dreadful. Mahler 4 isn't bad, but 2 and most of the Sibelius are mostly atrocious.

[@kingharry789]

His sibelius cycle with the minnesota really isn't that great, but check out his sibelius cycle with Lahti symphony, that is one of my personal favourite sibelius cycles out there. Much better recorded than the Minnesota one.

[@stangibell4274]

Dave, Thanks for doing this. Beyond identifying and offering a second set of '10 Best,' it provided a number of deep laughs especially toward the end. Because i file my CD and record collections by composer (and even that has grown problematic as I've grown older), I have to find the physical product to know who's conducting. Undoubtedly I can use the exercise, but please take a breath before you create the "Top Ten (30 List)". That will probably occur incrementally because viewers (like me) think another 'Best Living Conductor' has escaped your attention: Canadian conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He is versatile, still loved here in Philadelphia, and who has gone on to conduct at The Met. I think he deserves, at the very least, the Number 21 Spot. Take care. Thanks for the videos. I watch one almost every day,

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Nazgul Snezik-Yeggin has not been around long enough and made a sufficient number of recordings to judge. Those he has made have been highly variable. Where he is loved (for the moment) or what he is doing in various venues is irrelevant in my view. That is anecdotal, not audible, evidence.

[@stangibell4274]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you, Dave. I feel sufficiently upbraided.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@epicemuchilz You are wrong.

[@robertclark8546]

Very pleased to see Paavo Jarvi on this list. I often feel he gets overlooked but boy, his performances are so uniformly excellent.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

No, they're not. They been pretty variable lately, as with so many conductors who record too much.

[@niniasemira2269]

Please make now one list with 10 great conductors of the past!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I don't think so.

[@mikaelbeskow9221]

Lovely!

[@luciodemeio1]

What about Barenboim and Thielemann?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

What about them?

[@luciodemeio1]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Shouldn't they be included in the list of the 10 (maybe even 4 or 5) best living conductors ?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@luciodemeio1 Living yes, best, no.

[@eddihaskell]

Thielemann is the Chinese Takeout Food of living conductors. You listen to his recordings and forget what you have listened to three hours later. He is so generic. Try listening to his music without sprinkling all this MSG on it and you will see what I'm talking about.

[@judsonmusick3177]

Dave, you are probably aware of Klaus Mäkelä', who became the music director of the Oslo Philharmonic at the ripe old age of 25. Decca has just released his complete cycle of the Sibelius Symphonies with that orchestra. Have you heard those recordings, and what do you think of them?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

They have not been released yet.

[@pascalrousseau1]

I agree with you about baroque conductors. savall and some others are artistic directors who have the great value of reviving a forgotten repertoire. the exception to this is Garcia Alarcon who, in my opinion, has great conductors qualities. it's the only one I could have put in the top 20 list

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

No way. He hasn't done nearly enough in a sufficiently varied repertoire.

[@FlaneurSolitaire]

I think he's fabulous in what he does. But what he does is still rather limited in range.

[@CortJohnson]

Interesting about the baroque conductors. You know Gardiner makes Baroque works sing the way others don’t. Whatever he’s doing he’s doing it often much better than others. You mentioned several conductors who kept within their lane and did well. Baroque music is a pretty big lane!

[@patrickhackett7881]

Herreweghe produced the best recording of Mendelssohn's Elias that I've listened to so far. It's more colorful and emotional than the other Eliases/Elijahs, including the famous Terfel and Fischer-Dieskau recordings. It's out of print, but the whole recording is availiable on KZbin.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It's a bore.

[@richardwilliams473]

I'd like to throw my hat into the ring and nominate my favourite living conductor, Salonen the conductor from Finland. Why? Because it does not matter which orchestra he conducts ,as the results are always the same perfect recordings .Just my opinion of course

[@s28101]

❤️bravo !!!

[@thomasbirkhahn9616]

What about Dudamel?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

What about him?

[@thomasbirkhahn9616]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Not worth to be in the top 10(20) in your opinion? I'm asking because so many people are waxing lyrical about him.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@thomasbirkhahn9616 Not by a mile. He's probably good for a waxing though.

[@thomasbirkhahn9616]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks for the honest opinion!👍

[@robinsaunders8272]

Hi Dave, how do you rate (the late) Frank Zappa ?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Great.

[@jasonquinlan731]

Not sure Mehta did himself any favors when he became the de facto conductor with the "Three Tenors". It blinded people to the phenomenal recordings he made before.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

No. Those people were not paying attention to anything he did before anyway, and never were going to.

[@stayoutofmyhouse]

I cannot believe Yannick Nezet-Seguin didn't make either list! I've seen many performances of his in the past year and he can just about do it all. New music by today's top composers, a full Beethoven cycle, and quite the wide range of operas. Yannick gets my vote.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Sorry, but what you've seen is irrelevant, as I made very clear originally. This is about who has made the best recordings, and he certainly has not. At least not yet.

[@olliepops1124]

He started the Rachmaninoff Symphonies great , in my opinion. His Symphony 1 in Dm with The Philadelphia Orchestra was as good as I’ve heard anyone do it in many years. Nos. 2 & 3 were absolute slogs at every tempo somehow though. His Bruckner No. 4 and Saint-Saëns No. 3 were pretty aimless and hobbled as well. That first symphony by Rachmaninoff and his (believe it or not) his Eroica from back in Rotterdam keep him on my radar still though. I hope something he does blows me away comes soon.

[@waverly2468]

I've warmed up to Mehta a lot in the last few years. I would not have thought of him because he almost ruined the NY Phil after his long tenure there. But the Brahms set that he did while he was there is very good and he did my reference recording of Ein Heldenleiben with soloist Glenn Dicterow.

[@albertbauli]

I forgot Kwu wun chung in the last list. His Dvorak with WPo is awesome and his and his Mahler 5 is amazing.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

No, it's not. The Dvorak is pretty good in the symphonies (the serenades are horrible), and the Mahler 5 is really, really not special.

[@albertbauli]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Maybe I’m biased with that 5 because I heard him conduct it live with Staatskapelle Dresden and it was really special concert, but I know you said only recordings jeje, sorry. I really like the pace of the coda’s finale, I haven’t heard any other versions that makes that chorale really sing and not rush through it like many do.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@albertbauli Fair enough. I was talking about the DG recording with the Seoul Philharmonic.

[@barbaratodres9972]

ZUBIN MEHTA is never mentioned in ratings, wondering why?

[@maxmachado8632]

What about Dutoit, Barenboim and Ashkenazy?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

What about them?

[@maxmachado8632]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Would you put them in this list?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@maxmachado8632 Did you see them there?

[@tippettt]

I would have added Andrew Davis - I belive he's such a wonderful conductor but unfortunately he is seldom remembered like that...

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

That's because so much of what he recorded was simply second-rate.

[@normanlotz9893]

How about Jaap Van Sweden? The best conductor I've seen.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

One of the dullest I've heard.

[@edwinbaumgartner5045]

Fine list! - What you said about period-style conductors and that they aren't needed: I think you're right. In Vienna, we had long ago a concertant performance of Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo". Three days before, the conductor (I don't remember, who it was) got ill. Anthony Rolfe Johnson, who was the leading part as Orfeo, took over his job (and sang, too) - and the performance was marvellous! In my opinion, the conductor of such music isn't a interpreter as in Brahms or Mahler or, yes, even Haydn, but a spiritus rector, who establishes how to play and with which forces and disposition of instruments. Maybe, the conductor as I (and you) understand him, becomes important, when the composer becomes an individuum free of the conventions of techniques - and this starts in fact with Haydn, although I would claim an individual voice for composers like Monteverdi, Bach, Handel and Rameau, too. But it's not ususal at this time to have an individual voice as strong as these had.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I would also add that "individuality of voice" has little or nothing to do with the mechanics of actual performance. We speak of "interpretive vision" in the abstract, philosophical sense, but I'm also talking about physical technique, combined with the expectations of the performers.

[@zdl1965]

Surely David Zinman should have appeared in the top 20. His Beethoven symphony cycle on Arte Nova deserves pride of place.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Wrong! But he's great for other things.

[@sangbinlee1991]

@@DavesClassicalGuideOh... I like Zinman's recordings. Very curious about great things! Anyway, thanks for good videos!

[@janouglaeser8049]

@@DavesClassicalGuide e.g. his Brahms, am I right? 😏

[@Bachback]

I thought that his Beethoven was exciting.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@Bachback It is, and his Triple Concerto and other concerti are among the best, but the symphonies? Exciting, yes, but not terribly special.

[@eddihaskell]

No Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, or most of all, Christian Thiemann? How dare you! (laughs sneeringly :) )

[@michaelcarroll7621]

You forgot Roger Norrington.

[@lewtaratua1719]

Alsop, Falletta, Wit, Schwarz, Slatkin, Serebrier, and Kuchar. 7 of 20 are Naxos contractors. Naxos is the major label.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

For sure.

[@veselinboyadzhiev4724]

Can you make a video about how Mahler and Bruckner are substantially different and how mistakenly some conductors approach Mahler in the same way they would approach Bruckner?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I don't know anyone who does that, to be honest.

[@raulaguilar1736]

And what about Andris Nelsons and Gustavo Dudamel? They have great recordings with Boston and Los Angeles orchestras.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

No, they don't, and a few winners don't offset a larger pile of losers.

[@lawrencechalmers5432]

What about MTT and Salonen? They should be recognized.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Where were you two days ago when I did the first video?

[@jimyoung9262]

Glad you mentioned Alsop because she is FANTASTIC

[@gustavoguerraalvarez2292]

Barenboim? His Wagner, Bruckner, Beethoven, Schumann are great..

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Sometimes.

[@Mooseman327]

I would think Petrenko could have crashed the Top 20 but obviously not.

[@MarauderOSU]

My iconic comparison conductor would have to be Leonard Bernstein. He could be just as amazing with Haydn as he was with Mahler. And BTW, there is one living conductor who I think at least deserves an honorable mention, and that's Richard Bonynge. Remember that great ballet box? I think we need an opera box by him, too!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Bonynge did some great unusual repertoire, but he was not a great conductor.

[@MrInterestingthings]

How about ten great or likable Living Composers . We have many Beethovens living now WilliamBolcolm,WintonMarsalis'violin concerto!Per Norgard,Saariaho,Matthias Pintscher!,BeateFurer