Carlos Kleiber Named Greatest Conductor in BBC Music Magazine Poll
Creatrip Team
a month ago
BBC Music Magazine surveyed 100 top conductors and ranked the late Carlos Kleiber (1930–2004) as the greatest conductor ever, praised for his legendary perfectionism and relatively small but flawless output (about 90 concerts and 400 operas). Leonard Bernstein placed second, noted for leading the New York Philharmonic and promoting American and contemporary music, and Claudio Abbado came third, admired for communicative, non-authoritarian leadership. Herbert von Karajan was fourth and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a pioneer of historical performance practice (original-instrument performance), was fifth. Other notable names in the list include Simon Rattle, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini, Pierre Boulez, and more. The piece also notes upcoming Korean performances: John Eliot Gardiner will return to Seoul’s Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on March 3–4 to conduct Bach’s Mass in B minor and Mozart’s Requiem and C minor Mass, and Marin Alsop (ranked 19th) will visit Korea in November to perform again with pianist Yunchan Lim.
