Rest In Peace Bernard Haitink....

[SCAudiophile]

Very sad news today with the death of Bernard Haitink, a great conductor. From a press release:

"With great sorrow, we announce the death today of Bernard Haitink, the distinguished Dutch conductor. Mr Haitink died peacefully at home with his wife and family, aged 92 years old.

Bernard Haitink was one of the most celebrated conductors of his generation. He was Chief Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for 27 years. As well as holding Music Director positions at The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Mr Haitink was Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Amongst many titles bestowed, Mr Haitink was Conductor Emeritus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Laureate of the European Union Youth Orchestra and honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Wiener Philharmoniker, with whom he performed his last concert in September 2019.

Bernard Haitink has received many awards and honours in recognition of his services to music. He was Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, an Honorary Companion of Honour in the UK.

Bernard Haitink’s legacy will be his unrivaled interpretations of the great symphonic and operatic masterpieces. We remember Mr Haitink not only as a legendary musician who made over 450 recordings, but also as a passionate mentor for future generations of conductors, generously offering his time to teaching and masterclasses."

 

[GSOphile]

Great conductor with tremendous contributions to classical music over many years. RIP.

 

[Jim Smith]

Oh my....

He was my favorite.

 

[astrotoy]

We saw Haitink twice, once in Boston around 2005, conducting the BSO in Symphony Hall in Boston, where he was a frequent guest conductor, with Manny Ax playing the Brahms PC1. We were in right side balcony and saw Manny's friend Yo-Yo Ma and his wife in the audience. Then, just a few years ago, we saw Haitink conducting the LSO at the Barbican in London, with Mitsuko Uchida playing the Beethoven PC3 and then Haitink conducting Bruckner's 9th. I had not realized how prominent he was as an opera conductor, until one of our visits to Glyndebourne, where we saw his name on the wall as one of the relatively few music directors there from 1978-88.

I have the big box of the complete Bruckner symphonies that Haitink did for Philips in the 1970's, one of relatively few complete recordings of the Bruckners.

Clearly one of the giants of the last half century.

Larry

 

[Jim Smith]

IIRC, I only saw him once, some time between 2000-2005, at the CSO, during a CES - I was the North American Avantgarde Acoustics distributor back then.

I liked everything he did, but especially liked the Haitink/Sibelius recordings.