Since the thread is favorite conductor, may I forego recording quality? Carl Bohm (sorry for the missing umlaut). Try his reading on Beethoven 9th or Bach St. Matthew Passion. Wilhelm Furtwangler and his reading on Bach, Wagner, and Beethoven. Otto Klemperer on Beethoven. He did a wonderful Brahms 4th. Evgeny Mravinsky on Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky -- it will hit you like a blizzard; you will get frozen still til the end, taking massive storm hits without any defense. Eugene Ormandy, so underappreciated because he lacked the grandeur and power associated with legenday conductors. But, he excelled on lyrical readings, especially with strings. Among many good readings (Orff, Offenbach, Rachmaninoff, etc.) of his, Tchaikovsky 6th is my favorite -- quite different from Mravinsky's. Szell's reading on Smetana and Wagner. Bruno Walter on Mahler (not that many on CD). As recommended by the Penguin publication, his reading of Bruckner 9th is truly impressive. Hans Knappertbusch on Bruckner. Willem Mengelberg. Leopold Stokowski. But, some of their recordings are not up to par with sound quality; so, you may need a lot of imaginations to truly enjoy them. Nonetheless, reference performances to me (you may get different opinions from Penguin, Grammophon, etc.). Erich and Carlos Kleiber. Karajan. Temirkanov with big potential. Rattle on Mahler (literally every Mahler he did though not many :)). I wish he would try the whole Bruckner cycle. Too many still left unmentioned. Yet, wanna include John Williams -- easy on your ears :). Happy listening.
