Ormandy and Karajan lived through the era of fast progressing technology and degrading vinyl records. Whatever they did in the 40s was technically superseded in the 50s and again in the 60s. And even when it wasn't, the buying public was willing to believe that a recent recording would always sound better than an older one. So of course, Karajan had to re-do everything one last time in digital. He was the big Number One at DG and the CD was coming. He had cash-cow duty to fulfil.

"...muscular insensitivity." That's very good.

I recall Solti guest conducting the NY Philharmonic not long after Masur had taken over as Music Director from Zubin Mehta. Bernard Holland (I think) wrote, in the NY Times, something like "After what we endured in the Mehta years, Kurt Masur arrived and the orchestra began to play with something like the refinement of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Now Georg Solti comes to town and turns it into an assault weapon."

Thanks for another interesting episode. I’d like to hear your opinion on some conductors and soloists “to watch” - those getting started in their careers that we may not have heard of. Thank you!

I should have mentioned another overlapping consideration: recording quality. The best recordings by a lot of artists are late-analogue, the worst are early digital; and some of their best performances are mediocre or worse in sound quality.

Ormandy also made a small stack of discs for Telarc in its earliest days. He should be on the list of major conductors who recorded for the most labels.

Another great video, Dave, and thanks as always! Question for you: What is your opinion of Fritz Reiner? I would be very interested in hearing your detailed examinations of him. Looking forward to more, of course!

Thank you for another provocative and stimulating talk. May I suggest a talk on the repertoire conductors ought to have recorded. In a talk about Abbado's Rossini, you suggested that he could have recorded more of Rossini's work, including the less well-known operas. What should other conductors have recorded to play to their strengths?

I recall an lp demo featuring Ormandy's return to RCA during the stereo Era. To show how "modern" recording technology was miles ahead of recordings Ormandy made with RCA during the 78 rpm Era, they foolishly did a comparison of both. I was amazed to find out that the 78 sound was basically superior!

Karajan's sound was unmistakable. A few years after I started listening to classical music, something came on the radio, maybe a Strauss waltz or something. I immediately knew it was Karajan's recording because it sounded just like his Mozart just like his Beethoven, just like his Brahms, etc...

Totally agree with Wand, he made a character full sound with the NDR...

Should Gergiev be added to the list? He has different strategies for being his own worst enemy - a mania for administrative control and attempting to conduct as many concerts as possible.

Now, I'm no authority on Claudio Abbado: and yet, there's a Mahler symphony - was it the 7th? - which I thought magnificent, and I could have forgiven him anything after it. Lord knows, though - I'm with you on poor old Solti. I KNEW, though, that you'd get to Günter Wand - he was so old, so ill, so blind, I know I shouldn't but I find that influences my appreciation of him; he was a great, great conductor though. If I'm looking for a great Bruckner recording, Wand is my first choice; plus Skrovacevik (I'm sure that spelling is wrong: I can do German, but not Polish) - AND, if I can find a good pressing, Furtwängler. Less impressed by Karajan and Tintner, but that may be because I was conditioned by others.

Dave, I'm a bit confused. In your review of Bruckner's "Romantic" Symphony, you said that Wand's recording with the Berlin Philharmonic was one in which "everything went right", and tied for the best recording of this work along with Jochum's Berlin Philharmonic recording. Yet here you say that Wand's recording with the NDR Symphony is better.

Dave at some point I would appreciate your views on the alternative -Carlos Kleiber, who made few records, was dynamite in the opera house, but fiercely critical of his own work, and enraged by the Tristan und Isolde that was released, apparently without his approval.

Of course you have to have Haitink on this list!

Karajan made many videos along with the digital recordings- he said he wanted future generations to see him as well as hear him.

When I saw the topic of this video I was certain Mr Hurwitz’s number one example would be Lenny Bernstein :)

I think a more apt title for today's talk would be 5 "Great" conductors who ... Also, do you not agree that Solti's s 2nd "Un Ballo en Maschera" sounds distinctly fresher and more lively than his very good first outing -- if thanks in large part to Pav and Price?

I have always wondered, where this conductors' insatiable drive to record one and the same stuff over and over again came from. For me, this is absolutely pathological, like Agent Smith from the Matrix movie who wants to multiply endlessly himself.

I think George Szell fits well into this category, despite also qualifying for the award of being a conductor who made great recordings 99% of the time. Szell had a long standing feud with Rudolph Bing.

Do you think the Karajan's major objective on duplication could be the tecnology? He made one cycle in mono, then in stereo analogic, after in digital recording... Perhaps he think in a legacy with a better sound as possible...

I quite enjoy Solti's Zaubrflote remake; and several reviews I've read say that it's better than his first Zauberflote. I haven't heard the first, so I can't say whether I agree or not

During the latter half of his BPO tenure, Simon Rattle recorded a lot of commercial repertoire that I doubt his heart was in - Carmen, Carmina Burana - and that is already more than well-served by the existing catalogue. I think that was all about EMI extracting maximum value from his contract and getting the best possible return on their investment in SR. Did those recordings add to his reputation? I don’t think they did.

Wondering about Dave's views of Sinopoli....

I suppose an example of a pianist equivalent would be Martha Argerich!

Some say Solti's second Meistersinger was better than the first

How many conductor retire, life's work done etc, significantly before they peg out? Far too few I reckon.

I wonder how many conductors got better over their careers? It seems like many fade over time.

Apparently Decca really was/were relieved when Solti died. They did not even acknowledge his death on their website.

I think Cobra has only made bad records. He's basically a meme, like Celibedache on vallium.

How about 5 conductors that never repeated recordings.

Bernard Haitink? Don't know how billion versions of Bruckner 8 and Mahler 9 he has recorded

This overlaps with your "decrepitude" allowance, doesn't it? All of the conductors you cited were quite old and several were infeebled in various ways when they did their late recordings, only a few of which (e.g., Karajan's Vienna Bruckner Eighth) stand up to comparison with earlier versions. To your list I would add Bernstein, except for Copland and some of the Mahler remakes, also Haitink and Jansons. Generally, you're better off with recordings by conductors who aren't too young (Mäkelä) or too old (Blomstedt). The same goes for many (most?) soloists. Ageless greats - Monteux, Mackerras, Arrau, Moravec, Milstein - are rare birds.

Возможно, в этот список стоило включить Валерия Гергиева. Его заслуги перед музыкой остались в начале 90-х, а сегодня я опасаюсь любых записей с его участием Имя композитора или солиста, при этом, не играют роли. Его интерпретаций Бородина или Стравинского я не могу ему простить

Did Bruno Walter ever make a bad record?

Interesting talk. Karajan Ormandy and Abbado just made too many records and in the case of Karajan relied too much on PR and marketing even if at times like in Vienna for Decca the results were noticeably better. All the power to people like Mackerras or Markevitch then. Posterity has vindicated them !

What violation of the law would Abbado have to sue the record label? The label owns the copyright to the recordings. They can do what they want.

Karajan also played things he really should not have. I haven-t met a critic who thinks that his Brandenburg concerti are not a joke.

People should retire -- very good advice in lots of professions.

Lorin Maazel would be no. 6. From DG, to Decca, to CBS, to EMI, back to DG....re-re-recording a lot of stuff. He made some superb recordings, no doubt. And apparently sold a lot of records. After his R Strauss on CBS with Cleveland he should have left well enough alone and skipped the RCA remakes. He did the Mahler symphonies three times - and they got worse as they went along.

I’ve noticed there are some staunch Karajan fans out there & I don’t really get it. So glad DH says it how it actually is.