Who is your Favorite Historical Conductor?

I had in mind Conductors who worked in the pre stereo era when I made the thread, but that is a weird cut off point, because many of the greats of previous generations worked so long that they straddled both eras.  And I didn’t mean it to be comprehensive either, just thought those three would kick off a discussion.

I actually have seen Solti and Bernstein in concert, formative events in my listening history.  I remember seeing Barbirolli and Klemperer on TV.  So they all seem less remote than someone like Furtwangler or Mengelberg.

  Interpret the rules as you wish!

The big Bruno Walter box has really boosted my love for him.  I remember those recordings being available on the execrable vinyl of Columbia Budget label.  Hearing them freshly scrubbed is a revelation.

we should also add Szell, Ormandy, and Koussevitsky to the list

And throw Stokowski into the mix.

Casey Jones

@winoguy17 he was an engineer.

For audiophiles, Fritz Reiner stands out from most of the "historical" conductors, whose recorded sound is often not the best. Reiner had the "serious" temperament of the 19th century-born Europeans, and lead the CSO in a rather "severe" manner. The results were very "muscular" sounding performances, which I like.

But what makes his recordings of particular interest to audiophiles is their sound quality. His RCA Living Presence LP’s (and CD reissues) are legendary for both performance and sq. The 1950’s "shaded dog" LP’s are not too hard to find (they sold well in the 50’s and 60’s), even in pretty good shape. After Harry Pearson and the writers at his Absolute Sound mag started touting their quality in the 1970’s, their price skyrocketed dramatically. Chesky started reissuing them on LP in the late-80/90’s, followed by Classic Records in the 2000’s. Look for the originals in your bin digging, they’re great!