Who is your favorite neglected conductor?

I'm sure "neglected" is relative, and, sometimes conductors that seem neglected here in the US, where I'm writing from, are very active in Europe or Asia and much better known there than they are here, but I think many of us have favorite conductors that we think should get more attention.

My top two are probably Horst Stein and Maurice Abravanel. I know both mainly from recordings, but my all-time favorite recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is one with Stein conducting the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (Entracte ERS 6511--although this recording appears to have been released on many labels over the years) and one of my favorite recordings of the Sibelius Symphony No. 2 is Stein's recording conducting L'Orchestre De La Suisse Romande (London Jubilee 411 705-1). Something about his phrasing and the way he brings out the middle voices (primarily the violas, maybe?) really appeals to me. Abravanel I like for his Mahler, especially his symphonies No.3, No. 5, and No. 6. I have all the Abravanel Mahler the recordings with the Utah Symphony on the Vanguard label.

These are all excellent performances in my view, but I rarely hear anyone mention these conductors when talking about "best recordings" of this or that. Who is your favorite "neglected conductor"?

 

1.- Jascha Horenstein
2.- Georg Tintner
3.- Vernon Handley - this one bothers me a lot - we have a Sir Mick and Sir Elton but no Sir Vernon - I think is an insult considering all that Tod did to promote British Music
4.- I want to add Klaus Tennstedt, but I think he got big enough... but will leave his name as a conversation item...

v

 

I like Jashcha Horenstein a lot, too. Georg Tintner is a name I've never even heard. Can you tell me more about him and why you like him?

And I agree with you. Klaus Tennstedt is pretty well known. Vernon Handley is a name I know, too, but I'm not that familiar with his work. I don't think I have any recordings nor have I heard him perform live.

 

Jack from On The Buses. (British seventies sitcom.)

 

Ringo Starr - Mr. Conductor

 

Hermann Abendroth, especially his war time recordings.

 

William Steinberg
Sixten Ehrling

 

I am not a very knowledgeable Classical music guy, but I do like the form a lot.

It seems to me, overall, Conductors seem to be the most misunderstood, and underappreciated people in music, from a modern perspective.
It seems the general opinion is the guy just stands there waving a baton.

 

I guess I steer towards the more famous ones. The following aren't really neglected, just not as well-known as, say, Stokowski: Marc Minkowski on the strength of his Gluck alone; Gregorio Paniagua for his singularly interesting music of Ancient Greece; Hanson, for his own material; McCreesh for his historically-informed recordings; and Roger Wagner for his Chorale.

 

wood

 

Copper has been kicking it for well over a century and how often do we recognize it?

 

Another nomination for The Nose..

 

Georg Tintner made some killer recordings for Naxos, including a Bruckner cycle that is extremely well regarded, to say the list - I've seen it listed among the top ones in general. Clarity, tempos that are just right, perfect balance (I guess that is almos the same as clarity, but.. oh well).

Vernon Handley - excelled in British music - Get the Bax cycle on Chandos, but also great Delius, Vaughn-Williams, Elgar

v

 

ooh - forgot about him - great solid, in the great tradition.

v

 

Artur Rodzinski. Maybe not really neglected but because of the era he was active in you don't hear much about him anymore.

 

True - I guess the big question is, what does it mean "neglected"? lack of recorded legacy? lack of jobs with really big bands? because conductors like for example Gary Bertini (another one for the list) have recorded a lot, yet they don't seem to have caused much impact, except for specific recordings - like his Mahler cycle, for Bertini - extremely well regarded.

v

 

Thanks for this. I'll look into the Tintner Bruckner. Just heard Honeck conduct Bruckner No. 4 here in San Francisco last week. Uneven, but brilliant in places. Still, the best performance of that symphony I've ever heard, live or recorded, was back in 2014, again with the San Francisco Symphony, but with Herbert Blomstedt as guest conductor--one of those performances you never forget.

Anything in particular your recommend for Handley? I have a fair amount of British stuff. It can be hard to keep track. I might even have a Handley recording of something by Delius, or Vaughn-Williams, or Elgar that I'm not remembering at the moment. I'll have to go and poke around.

Thanks again

 

Jokers, jokers, everywhere.....

 

Yes, but I think Rodzinski was much appreciated in his day, not, as you say, really neglected--another one of those that it would have been nice to have heard in person and it's a shame we don't have more modern recordings of their work.

 

I think wood is neglected as a conductor for good reason.

 

Casey Jones

 

I like Steinberg, too. He was a solid conductor. I always look for the Command Classics recordings he did, but they're hard to find in decent condition. I do have a few, though.

 

No, Casey Jones was a bad conductor. He killed himself in a train wreck after all. I'm talking about great conductors that deserve more recognition than they generally get.

 

copper is pretty good with heat