Who are the maestros who inspired today's greatest conductors?

Below we give details of how each of our 100 conductors voted

Published: January 19, 2017 at 12:24 pm

Which of their peers and forebears are today's leading conductors inspired by? We put this question to 100 of today’s best, inviting them to name three each. Click here to find out who won the vote, or read on to see each conductor's individual votes.

Thomas Adès

Arturo Toscanini

Antal Dorati

John Eliot Gardiner

Rinaldo Alessandrini

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

John Eliot Gardiner

Claudio Abbado

Marin Alsop

Leonard Bernstein

Gustav Mahler

Mariss Jansons

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Herbert von Karajan

Claudio Abbado

Matthias Bamert

Georges Szell

Leopold Stokowski

Lorin Maazel

Harry Bicket

Ferenc Fricsay

Carlos Kleiber

Klaus Tennstedt

Fabio Biondi

Angelo Campori

John Eliot Gardiner

Claudio Abbado

Richard Bonynge

Carlos Kleiber

Tullio Serafin

Clemens Krauss

Douglas Boyd

Claudio Abbado

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Paavo Berglund

Martyn Brabbins

Claudio Abbado

Carlos Kleiber

Ilya Musin

Lionel Bringuier

Carlos Kleiber

Carlo Maria Giulini

Herbert von Karajan

Semyon Bychkov

Carlos Kleiber

Herbert von Karajan

Ilya Musin

Riccardo Chailly

Carlos Kleiber

Arturo Toscanini

Claudio Abbado

William Christie

Erich Leinsdorf

Leonard Bernstein

Simon Rattle

Harry Christophers

Seiji Ozawa

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Alan Wicks

Stephen Cleobury

John Barbirolli

Adrian Boult

Benjamin Britten

Francesco Corti

Lorin Maazel

Dimitri Mitropoulos

Carlos Kleiber

Thomas Dausgaard

Carlo Maria Giulini

Carlo Zecchi

Leonard Bernstein

Dennis Russell Davies

Bruno Maderna

Jean Morel

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski

Carl Davis

Rafael Kubelík

Arturo Toscanini

Osmo Vänskä

Sir Colin Davis

Adrian Boult

Rudolf Kempe

Carlos Kleiber

Stéphane Denève

Charles Munch

Carlos Kleiber

Carlo Maria Giulini

‘As apprentice conductor at the Paris Conservatoire in the early ’90s, I had the privilege to play Verdi’s Requiem at the piano for Carlo Maria Giulini during his rehearsals with soloists and chorus. I remember vividly his clear eyes, which seemed to have seen the most beautiful sunrises, and also his amazingly soft old-man hand-shake. Breathing music with him, I received the most important lesson I ever had: to believe in the miracle of sharing music together! In his apparently very simple gestures, there was not even an atom of doubt, he was fundamentally sure that everybody would give him the best they ever did.’ – Stéphane Denève

Gustavo Dudamel

Carlos Kleiber

Leonard Bernstein

Herbert von Karajan

Charles Dutoit

Ernest Ansermet

Herbert von Karajan

Charles Munch

Sir Mark Elder

Carlos Kleiber

Reginald Goodall

Pierre Boulez

Richard Farnes

Carlos Kleiber

Simon Rattle

Claudio Abbado

Iván Fischer

Leonard Bernstein

Otto Klemperer

Gustav Mahler

Thierry Fischer

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Claudio Abbado

Rumon Gamba

Colin Davis

Simon Rattle

Yevgeny Mravinsky

Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Pierre Monteux

Rudolf Kempe

Charles Mackerras

‘I owe Sir Charles Mackerras a huge debt. He was one of the very few conductors generous enough to treat his colleagues not as rivals, but as co-interpreters, with whom to impart and exchange personal findings, hints, tricks, or shared enthusiasms. Over the years he would often invite me to his home in St John’s Wood to discuss scores (Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Schumann, Dvorák, Martinu) or to give me a ‘driving lesson’ in whichever Janácek opera I was conducting at the time. A great guy who is only just beginning to get posthumous recognition.’ – Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Edward Gardner

Carlos Kleiber

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Thomas Beecham

Daniele Gatti

Otto Klemperer

Arturo Toscanini

No third choice made

Valery Gergiev

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Dimitri Mitropoulos

Leonard Bernstein

Jane Glover

Carlo Maria Giulini

Bernard Haitink

Simon Rattle

Roy Goodman

Arturo Toscanini

Charles Mackerras

Roger Norrington

Paul Goodwin

Roger Norrington

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Simon Rattle

Emmanuelle Haïm

Simon Rattle

Bernard Haitink

Leonard Bernstein

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Erich Kleiber

Ferenc Fricsay

George Szell

Charles Hazlewood

Arturo Toscanini

Leonard Bernstein

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Philippe Herreweghe

John Eliot Gardiner

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Claudio Abbado

Paul Hillier

Pierre Boulez

Daniel Barenboim

Kurt Masur

Manfred Honeck

Carlos Kleiber

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Riccardo Muti

Jakub Hrua

Leonard Bernstein

Claudio Abbado

Jirˇi Belohlávek

René Jacobs

Leonard Bernstein

Claudio Abbado

Simon Rattle

Mariss Jansons

Carlos Kleiber

Yevgeny Mravinsky

Herbert von Karajan

Kristjan Järvi

Leonard Bernstein

Carlos Kleiber

Neeme Järvi

Neeme Järvi

Hans Knappertsbusch

Hermann Scherchen

Paul Paray

Paavo Järvi

Neeme Järvi

Leonard Bernstein

Wilhelm Furtwängler

James Judd

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Carlos Kleiber

John Barbirolli

Vladimir Jurowski

Leonard Bernstein

Carlos Kleiber

Gennady Rozhdestvensky

Kirill Karabits

Kirill Kondrashin

Valery Gergiev

John Eliot Gardiner

Lothar Koenigs

Carlos Kleiber

Claudio Abbado

Pierre Boulez

Yakov Kreizberg

Leonard Bernstein

Herbert von Karajan

No third choice made

Christian Lindberg

Carlos Kleiber

Ferenc Fricsay

Claudio Abbado

Andrew Litton

Leonard Bernstein

Karl Böhm

Carlos Kleiber

Karl Böhm appeared often at the Met Opera when I was growing up in New York, and I heard my first Tristan, Fidelio, Rosenkavalier, Frau ohne Schatten and Otello under his baton. I grew to appreciate his clear-headed, logical approach, the drive and energy he brought, particularly to the music of his friend Richard Strauss, and his sense of line and arc. His stick technique at first blush seemed ambiguously eccentric until one realized that every upbeat was in precisely the intended tempo and indisputably clear.’– Andrew Litton

David Lloyd-Jones

Thomas Beecham

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Claudio Abbado

Susanna Mälkki

Carlos Kleiber

James Levine

Bernard Haitink

Andrew Manze

Claudio Abbado

Ferenc Fricsay

Leonard Bernstein

Jun Märkl

Sergiu Celibidache

Seiji Ozawa

Leonard Bernstein

Sir Neville Marriner

Pierre Monteux

Josef Krips

George Szell

Kurt Masur

Bruno Walter

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Yevgeny Mravinsky

Paul McCreesh

Bernard Haitink

Charles Mackerras

Karl Böhm

Nicholas McGegan

Roger Norrington

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Arturo Toscanini

Zubin Mehta

Arturo Toscanini

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Herbert von Karajan

Juanjo Mena

Sergiu Celibidache

Mariss Jansons

Carlos Kleiber

Marc Minkowski

Hermann Scherchen

Charles Bruck

Simon Rattle

Andris Nelsons

Carlos Kleiber

Mariss Jansons

Herbert von Karajan

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Carlo Maria Giulini

Herbert von Karajan

Simon Rattle

Sir Roger Norrington

Carlo Maria Giulini

Carlos Kleiber

Colin Davis

Gianandrea Noseda

Ferenc Fricsay

Victor de Sabata

Dimitri Mitropoulos

Jonathan Nott

Carlos Kleiber

Pierre Boulez

Klaus Tennstedt

Tadaaki Otaka

Carl Adolf Schuricht

Joseph Keilberth

Lovro von MataΩic´

Antonio Pappano

Victor de Sabata

John Barbirolli

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Alondra de la Parra

Carlos Kleiber

Simon Rattle

Eduardo Mata

Vasily Petrenko

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Johann Strauss II

Louis Antoine Jullien

Peter Phillips

Simon Rattle

Thomas Beecham

David Wulstan

Helmuth Rilling

Leonard Bernstein

Ferdinand Leitner

No third choice made

David Robertson

Karl Böhm

Carlos Kleiber

Rafael Kubelík

Francois-Xavier Roth

Pierre Boulez

John Eliot Gardiner

Charles Munch

Gennady Rozhdestvensky

Willy Ferrero

Nathan Rachlin

Otto Klemperer

Donald Runnicles

Carlos Kleiber

James Levine

Gustav Mahler

Leif Segerstam

Carlos Kleiber

Georg Solti

Herbert von Karajan

José Serebrier

Leopold Stokowski

Pierre Monteux

Antal Dorati

Vassily Sinaisky

Bruno Walter

Yevgeny Mravinsky

Karel AnΩerl

Robert Spano

Seiji Ozawa

Esa-Pekka Salonen

Serge Koussevitzky

Markus Stenz

Leonard Bernstein

John Eliot Gardiner

Gustavo Dudamel

Leonard Bernstein made music accessible to so many young people, and I myself used to be besotted with his Harvard Lectures. They were fascinating and eye-opening for me as an aspiring musician. Then I later came full circle and had lessons with him at Tanglewood: what an inspiration! But for me, it also has to do with what he achieved with regards to Mahler. For him to bring about a formidable revival in this such important music is absolutely epic – that was the milestone that Bernstein was able to give us.’

John Storgårds

Carlos Kleiber

Leonard Bernstein

Paavo Berglund

Masaaki Suzuki

Karl Richter

Leonard Bernstein

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Yuri Temirkanov

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Carlos Kleiber

Herbert von Karajan

Robin Ticciati

Colin Davis

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Simon Rattle

Michael Tilson Thomas

Antal Dorati

Pierre Monteux

Pierre Boulez

Osmo Vänskä

Paavo Berglund

Leonard Bernstein

Pierre Boulez

Ilan Volkov

Willem Mengelberg

Carlos Kleiber

Bruno Maderna

Paul Watkins

Claudio Abbado

Carlos Kleiber

Günter Wand

John Wilson

John Barbirolli

George Szell

André Previn

Antoni Wit

Henryk Czyz

Herbert von Karajan

Leonard Bernstein

Thomas Zehetmair

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

David Zinman

Franz Brüggen

Xian Zhang

Carlos Kleiber

Arturo Toscanini

Yevgeny Svetlanov

David Zinman

Pierre Monteux

George Szell

John Barbirolli

Jaap van Zweden

Leonard Bernstein

Carlo Maria Giulini

Carlos Kleiber

This article first appeared in the April 2011 issue of BBC Music Magazine.

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