151 Conductors Can't Be Wrong

[BBMmk2]

As a matter of act, I am never too keen on these surveys.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sorry E_A I will try harder in the Title Stakes in future .....

Oh! I wasn't getting at you. Just at the idea of this kind of survey.

[Bryn]

The quality of the survey is further revealed by the fact that not one of those participating opted for Webern's Op. 21 (not even the speculative 3 movement 'completion' as heard on Radio 3 some decades ago - ISTR the 3rd movement 'reconstruction' was by George Perle, but can find no reference to it on the Internet, and I can't find my cassette recording of the broadcast).

[zola]

Actually reading the survey last night revealed that the list of participating conductors was not as comprehensive as I had first thought. I had persuaded myself that Nelsons and Salonen were included but they were not. No Blomstedt, Myung Whun Chung.

[AjAjAjH]

O such angst!!!!!!

If I were one of the 151 - and I'm not a conductor, except when nobody is looking!! - I would have chosen:-

Bruckner 8.
Mahler 6.
Shostakovich 8. ( and Elgar 2, Brahms 2, Beethoven 4 etc. etc. etc.

Interested to see that Sir Mark Elder chose Berlioz 'Romeo and Juliet' and Shostakovich 4 in his three as to my knowledge - and I stand to be corrected - he has never conducted them in Manchester.

As for 'Eroica'. In 54 years of concert going, I have heard it played live once. I have heard it on radio and played it on disc a number of times and wonder what people see in it. Give me No.7 any time. But that is the joy of music whether we are conductors, players or listeners, we all experience different things when we are listen or performing great music.
I once heard Mahler 2 conducted by the same conductor played twice in 3 days. The same symphony, played differently and experienced in a different way.

As I don't think I know any of the contributors to this forum, I think it was a contributor called Alison who used to like this sort of thing. Perhaps she would saying to us 'if you were a conductor, what would your three be?' I've given mine.

[Dave2002]

As for 'Eroica'. In 54 years of concert going, I have heard it played live once. I have heard it on radio and played it on disc a number of times and wonder what people see in it.

Try Bernstein (NYPO) - which is quite fast, or Barbirolli, which is somewhat slower. Both are excellent, IIRC.

There was a really good performance on the radio conducted by Thierry Fischer quite a number of years ago.

I also liked Christopher Hogwood with the AAM on Oiseau Lyre a lot - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000004C...C7F7VCPH853STE

Also, you should hear it a few more times live.

I can't make you like it, but I might be able to help you to appreciate it better.

[pastoralguy]

Oddly enough, I was a very seasoned concert goer before I heard Beethoven 8 live in a concert.

[Petrushka]

Oddly enough, I was a very seasoned concert goer before I heard Beethoven 8 live in a concert.

In 44 years of concert-going I've heard Beethoven's 5th live just twice: Halle/Loughran circa 1976 and West-Eastern Divan Orch/Barenboim in 2012. The Beethoven symphony I've heard most live in concert is the 9th with the rest a long way behind. The 8th came my way in 1978 with Haitink and the LPO two nights in a row, first in Manchester then the following night in, of all places, Derby.

[Bryn]

Beethoven's 5th was performed in the first Prom I ever attended, though I must admit it was not even a secondary consideration in my decision to make the trip. I have yet to hear it while attending a concert since.

[ahinton]

No, none of them can be "wrong" because they're all merely giving their opinions (at least as far as one can tell) - and a personal opinion, whatever anyone else might or might not think of it, is in the end just that, no more, no less, rather than something that can reasonably be described as "right" or "wrong".

That said, the entire premise is about as base as such thing can get...

[Dave2002]

Petrushka and pastoralguy

Now you've got me thinking I need to hear more Beethoven symphonies live. I can't remember hearing 1 and 2 live, but surely I must have done. ???
I have heard all the others - almost all of them several times.

Perhaps a complete live listening cycle should be my challenge for the coming year.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The only time I've heard B5 live was in the King's Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester, circa 1960. It was the second half a concert that included David Oistrakh playing Beethoven's Violin Concerto with Barbirolli and the Hallé.

[Stanfordian]

Chosen by David Zinman, John Wilson, Mark Wigglesworth and Owain Arwel Hughes

There you are again with your freely given sniping. Jumping in with criticism having made assumptions. I have not seen the individual choices from the 151 conductors and I was not commenting on that. I have only seen the list of the top twenty symphonies given at the start of this thread and Elgar 1 or 2 isn't there. I'm glad a few have chosen the Elgar symphonies, they deserve recognition.

[richardfinegold]

Petrushka and pastoralguy

Now you've got me thinking I need to hear more Beethoven symphonies live. I can't remember hearing 1 and 2 live, but surely I must have done. ???
I have heard all the others - almost all of them several times.

Perhaps a complete live listening cycle should be my challenge for the coming year.

When I was in Medical School Antal Dorati had just assumed his post in Detroit and started off with a Beethoven Cycle and I attended all concerts in the cheap seats. That is my only way of knowing that I have heard all 9 in Concert at least once. I think I have heard the Second elsewhere, but I can't be sure, and it so rarely is programmed.

[Bryn]

There you are again with your freely given sniping. Jumping in with criticism having made assumptions. I have not seen the individual choices from the 151 conductors and I was not commenting on that. I have only seen the list of the top twenty symphonies given at the start of this thread and Elgar 1 or 2 isn't there. I'm glad a few have chosen the Elgar symphonies, they deserve recognition.

What are you on about. It must take a fair amount of effort to interpret the information I offered as being in any way "sniping". Being well aware that not everyone who contributes here has ready access to the pages of the BBC Music Magazine I simply cited the four conductors who had chosen Elgar's 1st as one of their three. I too was surprised the work did not attract more conductors' 'votes' and thus make it to the top twenty, but at least it garnered some support. As far as I am concerned, Hans Richter was quite right in his assessment of the symphony's quality.