Favorite Classical Conductor Followup

All your points are well taken. I just believe that the marketing hype outstrips the product.

I have had personal contact with Ben in the past on more than one occassion, and he can be hyperbolic in public, so in regards to hype I guess I agree. He is a real dynamo and his enthusiansm is too much for some. No one is neutral if you ask them what they think of him.

For more info on Carlos Kleiber try the following link http://www.thrsw.com/kleiber.html. Most conductors have a strong personal Reality Distortion Field. It's a professional necessity to commnad the orchestra. One one of the advantages of a recording is the listener can avoid it. BTW I've been to over a 1000 professional symphonic and opera performances over the last 35 years and had several personal contacts with Solti during his Chicago years. It is frequently a sobering experience to relisten to a recording of a performance you attended.

There is also a lot of information on Kleiber and many others at classicalmusic.com ---- Pls1 - Interesting comment. I've heard a few of the Baltimore Symphony/Temirkanov concerts I've attended played on NPR and enjoyed them just as much. I also bought my parents that Final Concert CD of Berstein's from Tanglewood for my parents when it came out specifically because they were there. My parents are not critical listeners like us, however.