Who are your favourite five conductors, seen live.?

[Mahler's3rd]

Simon Rattle
Valery Gergiev
Vladimir Jurowski
Gustavo Dudamel
Colin Davis

Would loved to have seen Horenstein or Barbirolli Conducting Mahler

[akiralx]

Allow me 6:

Boulez (Bartok with VPO at RFH - the only thing I remember about this concert was that the leader had a spare violin hanging off the back of his stand)
Abbado (Mahler 9 at Proms)
Segerstam (fantastic Walkure in Helsinki a couple of years ago)
Elder (Mahler 3 - which I was expecting to be merely OK but was stupendous)
Jansons (2 weeks ago in Melbourne on their world tour, in Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky 5)
Salonen in Leeds a few years ago conducting the Philharmonia - Grimaud's performance of LvB concerto 4 was interrupted by an audience member collapsing so EPS had to ask if there was a doctor in the house; he went on to conduct an amazing Symphonie fantastique.

[Dave2002]

Would loved to have seen Horenstein or Barbirolli Conducting Mahler

I am a fan of Barbirolli, but the only concert I saw him do live was of Mahler which I'd travelled to Manchester to hear. It was OK - but didn't blow me away, which could have been due to the piece (Mahler 6) as much as the conductor. His Sibelius symphony recordings and his Elgar symphony recordings, amongst others, are inspirational.

Other posts have reminded me that I did see Bernstein - also in Manchester - he was good, but again I'd have like to have heard more.

ferretfancy is right about Boult - in some works he was very good - RVW 2,4 and 6 for instance. I saw him quite a few times, and sometimes he was very good, though got a bit subdued in later years. He did feature in my original list with Menuhin - he was good as an accompanist.

I missed Beecham, Klemperer and Karajan. By the time I decided I'd like to hear Karajan live it was firstly impossible (seats sold out), then too late. I wasn't over fond of his recordings at that time, but decided that he might be different in a live performance. I never found out. I've changed my mind since though - some of his recorded performances are lovely, though some are (still) not!

Although I did see Sargent, I'd have liked, on reflection, to have seen him more. I think he was really rather good in many pieces, and tends to be dismissed or forgotten now. He was also good in Sibelius - like Beecham and Barbirolli, as well as in much choral music.

[Maclintick]

Interesting interim results - the votes cast as follows:

Haitink 13
Boult, Solti, Abbado, Rattle 7
Barbirolli, Bernstein, Colin Davis 6
Gergiev, Elder 5
Tennstedt, Jansons, Jurowski 4

Board members have it spot-on IMHO.The Dutchman is a great all-rounder who can play in any position - German, Austrian, French, Russian, Italian & even English when the mood suits him ( RVW !). Excels in traditional "conductors' graveyard" repertoire - Mozart, Wagner, Bruckner, but who can also pull off the shimmering textures of Debussy & Ravel, & the dark Russian soul of Shostakovich. We've been lucky he's spent much of his career in the UK.

[aeolium]

Thinking of the best orchestral or opera performances I have experienced in concert-halls rather than necessarily my favourite conductors on record, I would go for:

Haitink - Mahler 3, Bruckner 7 at the Proms (not the same Proms!)
Colin Davis - opera performances of Don Giovanni and Der Freischütz and a wonderful concert performance of La Damnation de Faust
Bernstein - Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Mahler 5 at the Proms
Kubelik - Brahms Symphonies 1 & 2 at the Barbican
Esa Pekka Salonen - Janacek Sinfonietta and Duke Bluebeard's Castle with the Philharmonia at Symphony Hall

[makropulos]

I like aeolium's solution to an impossible task! Five conductors who gave unforgettable performances:

Bernstein - Mahler 5 with the VPO at the Proms
Boult - RVW Job with the BBC NSO at the 1977 Proms (and plenty else)
Jochum - Brahms 2 with the LPO at the Festival Hall; Jupiter and Eroica with the VPO at the RAH; plenty of other things too
Mackerras - Elgar 1, Brahms 3 (and a lot else with the Philharmonia); Figaro, Trovatore, Katya Kabanova, Cunning Little Vixen... Too many others to mention, over 40 years. (By some distance, CM was my favourite opera conductor)
Matacic - Bruckner 3 with the Philharmonia at the Proms; Bruckner 9 and Te Deum at the RFH

But even as I type those, so many others come to mind: Celibidache's Debussy Iberia and Brahms 4 and Böhm's Brahms 2, Previn's Shostakovich 13 (all LSO/RFH), Haitink's RVW 4th (LPO/RFH, early 1970s), the only concert I saw Barbirolli conduct (Britten Sinfonia da Requiem, Delius Brigg Fair, Mahler 1 - with the New Philharmonia at the RFH), and so on, and on...

[slarty]

I will certainly join in with this variation.
Goodall Meistersinger SW 1968
Barbirolli 4 Last Songs with Schwarzkopf & Heldenleben
Carlos kleiber Otello CG 1980
Celibidache michelangeli RFH 1982 Ravel Faure
Colin Davis Jon vickers Peter Grimes CG 1981
I could go on.

[Petrushka]

No need to add to my list of six months ago but I too will join in this variation.

Karajan Bruckner 8 BPO Royal Festival Hall 19/6/1979
Tennstedt Mahler 2 LPO Royal Festival Hall 20/2/1989
Haitink Bruckner 9 Concertgebouw Orch Royal Albert Hall Prom 3/9/1983
Tennstedt Mahler 8 LPO Royal Festival Hall 27/1/1991
Bernstein Mahler 5 VPO Royal Albert Hall Prom 10/9/1987

Lots more.......

[RobertLeDiable]

I'm not good at remembering dates, so just conductors and repertoire and very memorable performances:

Kletzki - Tchaik Pathetique
Carlos Kleiber - Wozzeck and Rosenkavalier
Giulini - Verdi Requiem
Gibson - Mahler 8 (the one that launched the new Edinburgh Festival Chorus in 1965)
Bernstein - Mahler 2
Abbado - Parsifal
Bohm - Tristan (Bayreuth)
Munch - Berlioz Requiem

[Bryn]

Sir Roger Norrington (Mahler 9)
George Szell (Mahler 6)
Sir Charles Mackerras (Martinu Julietta)
Ilan Volkov (Feldman Piano and Orchestra)
John Tilbury (Cardew The Great Learning, Paragraph 3)

[Alison]

Interesting interim results - the votes cast as follows:

Haitink 13
Boult, Solti, Abbado, Rattle 7
Barbirolli, Bernstein, Colin Davis 6
Gergiev, Elder 5
Tennstedt, Jansons, Jurowski 4

Board members have it spot-on IMHO.The Dutchman is a great all-rounder who can play in any position - German, Austrian, French, Russian, Italian & even English when the mood suits him ( RVW !). Excels in traditional "conductors' graveyard" repertoire - Mozart, Wagner, Bruckner, but who can also pull off the shimmering textures of Debussy & Ravel, & the dark Russian soul of Shostakovich. We've been lucky he's spent much of his career in the UK.

I am delighted my favourite conductor has won this forum accolade and by some distance. His recently reissued set of Tchaikovsky Symphonies is well worth getting to know by the way. A priceless Manfred.

[Alison]

No less than five of the above have been Principal Conductors of the LPO.

[Beef Oven!]

Board members have it spot-on IMHO.The Dutchman is a great all-rounder.

But he's lazy

[Alison]

But he's lazy

Keeps churning out the same stuff you mean?

[Beef Oven!]

Keeps churning out the same stuff you mean?

No, not at all - I'm just gutted that he decided years ago that he didn't want to be some great big music director of a whacking big orchestra like the BPO. I wanted him to get the job after K, but he has said that has no such ambition. Those Dutch dudes can be too laid-back sometimes!