Zubin Mehta was a major part of musical life when I moved to Southern California in 1969, having started his tenure as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

It is no wonder Bernard Herrmann relishes the wistful lyricism in Barber’s masterwork, as Herrmann’s score for Vertigo is among the most beautiful and haunting of all film scores ever composed.

Lorenzo Molajoli is a mysterious figure.

Based on exactly one recording, Maurice Abravanel is my favorite opera conductor.

I trust, fellow Parterre readers, that we can all agree that Riccardo Muti is a great opera conductor.

Fifty some years ago I stumbled on to John Barbirolli‘s recording of matchless Elgar & V-Williams music for strings and discovered my go-to conductor for life.

Antonio Pappano‘s versatility in both German and Italian repertoire and beyond is both rare and impressive.

Whether an opera by Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, or Berg, Dimitri Mitropoulos brought to the podium a total understanding and love for each score he touched.

I am once again going to laud the classic Rudolf Kempe commercial recording of Lohengrin (which I have lauded overall) for its conducting.

Roger Norrington conducted Rossini’s Semiramide in Pesaro ’94 and made the Orchestra part of the drama in a way I still have never heard duplicated in a Bel Canto opera.

Many years ago, when the Met was deciding who the next principal conductor/music director was going to be, it seemed to be a tie between YN-S and Fabio Luisi.

Pierre Monteux‘s career defies time.

Daniel Barenboim’s Tristan und Isolde is a performance I keep coming back to, again and again.

I first experienced the magic of Seiji Ozawa in 1972 when I was 12 years old.

Fausto Cleva, in this glorious Fanciulla from the old Met, demonstrates all the great skills of opera conducting

I think Patanè did far more than just hold it together: he did full honor to Verdi.

Opera conductors … my favorite subject!

He has conducted some of my favorite opera recordings.

Although Ernest Ansermet is most often associated with orchestral music, his 1964 recording of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande is still my favorite.

Historically, conductors were often viewed as rigid, authoritarian figures. Yannick Nézet-Séguin completely subverts this stereotype.