Steve Schwartz gave us his "take" on "really, really, really good"
conductors, "very good" conductors, and "capable" conductors.  My list is a
little different since I'm more partial to Baroque music than Steve and not
as wide in breadth of preferred repertoire.

Really, really, really good:

Robert King - The king of Handel conducting; he has his pulse on Handel's
dynamics better than anyone.  King has also provided us many superior
Purcell recordings.

Gardiner - Fantastic in Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and he's always ready
to plunge into more recent repertoire.  Some find him too cool and
calculating - I don't see it.  I find him deliciously theatrical.

Harnoncourt - I owe him much gratitude for putting period instrument
performances on the map.  His Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms
recordings are relevatory for me.

Tilson-Thomas - I think he's the best active conductor for mainstream
repertoire.  I'm greatly enjoying his new Mahler 7th these days.

McGegan - He introduced me to the world of Handel opera; that's enough for
me.

Herreweghe - Outstanding Bach conductor.  His cantata recordings are the
best as is his first St. Matthew Passion.

Savall - This man has unearthed and provided us with a ton of great
recordings of relatively obscure early music composers.

Nagano - I consider him the best active conductor for early 20th century
music, and he can only get better.

Alessandrini - Keeps churning out definitive Monteverdi recordings.
His recent Art of Fugue was also outstanding.

Rattle - Love his Mahler and his hair.

Colin Davis - The best Mozart and Haydn conductor around.

Very Good:

Mackerras - Great Mozart symphony conductor, provided us with an
appropriately sized Brahms symphony series, his Beethoven 9th was
outstanding as was his Fidelio.

Sinopoli - Always distinctive and no slave to convention.  His Mahler series
is one of my favorites.

Gergiev - The current well-deserved king of Russian music.  Don't tell this
to anyone, but I bought his Tchaikovsky 5th, and he almost persuaded me that
I like this composer.

Pinnock - An excellent composer of Baroque repertoire, although I found his
foray into Haydn symphonies less than distinguished (no heart).

Gatti - He's a great young conductor.  Brave enough to tackle Mahler and do
a fine job.

Kurt Sanderling - he wasn't too familiar to me until I heard his Beethoven
piano concerto series with Uchida.  I love his approach, and his unison with
Uchida.

Competent:

Most conductors are competent, but the following head my list:

William Christie, Dohnanyi, Welser-Moest, Wand, Boulez, Abbado, Barenboim,
Pletnev, and Salonen.

What does it all mean?  To me it's an indication of the many exceptional
conductors on today's scene who need not take any backseat to the great
conductors of earlier generations.

I'm of a different mind concerning composers.  I think that most of
the potentially great classical music composers of today are doing other
things.  We get who's left - Williams, Danielpour, Tan Dan, Ades, etc.  I
do realize that the time factor plays a part in my opinion, but do any of
you really believe that in future centuries the top dog composers of today
will have a reputation comparable to a Bach or Brahms? Sure you do.

Don Satz
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