Favourite Bernard Haitink recordings

[Alison]

Where would one start here ?

Each and every one is special to me. I would be interested to hear about your favourites.

[perfect wagnerite]

Three operatic recordings stand out for me:

Don Giovanni - the 1984 Glyndebourne production by Peter Hall with a top ensemble cast (Thomas Allen in the title role) and which to me has a drive and theatrical intensity that no other recording of this work matches.

Daphne - very beautiful, very euphonious (as you'd expect with Lucia Popp in the title role and Kurt Moll in the cast, and with the Bavarian Radio SO playing in the Herkulensaal) but the sinew holding the work together is clearly there.

Meistersinger - the last production before the ROH closed, with again a vintage cast in a real production, performed with a musicianship and sense of pace that Wagner often lacks.

If only his Ring had been recorded with that classic ROH cast, and not before he'd conducted the work in the theatre ...

[Mahlerei]

Where would one start here ?

Each and every one is special to me. I would be interested to hear about your favourites.

Morning Alison

Not a great BH fan (as you know) but four indispensable recordings would be:

1. His second Alpine Symphony (LSO Live)
2. His Concertgebouw Don Quixote
3. His Bluebeard (EMI)
4. Bruckner Te Deum with the VPO. No hint of tedium in that blazing performance.

[Norfolk Born]

I've always admired his recordings of Bruckner and Mahler symphonies - commitment and control without self-indulgence!

[Chris Newman]

I too know not where to start with Bernie. I have admired him since the late 60s when he conducted blazing performances of Mahler, Bruckner and Britten (Spring Symphony) at the Proms with the LPO, Concertgeboew and BBCSO. You could guarantee a full house for any of his concerts. He always conducts withan integrity that few others have achieved in my experience: perhaps Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Charles Mackerras, Semyon Bychkov, Sir Colin Davis, Carlo Maria Giulini, Jascha Horenstein, Constantin Silvestri, and Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt are his illustrious equals. Mind you a lot of the youngsters now show real promise.

Glyndebourne Don Giovanni
ROH Jenufa
Bruckner
Mahler

A quiet magician.

[Jon Benger]

Agreed that there is an enormous choice of great recordings, and difficult to pick a favourite. I recently enjoyed several of his Beethoven Symphonies on LSO live. Another favourite CD is his Proms recording of Shostakovich 10 with the LPO.

[Karafan]

His RCO Bruckner 9 (second recording, digital, 1981) - intensely played with a profound sense of spirituality. A classic!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I like his Symphonie Fantastique with the VPO.

[Alison]

A quiet magician is a lovely description.

Good to be reminded of that Daphne recording - did it ever come out on CD ?

I suppose there is hope that the ROH Ring Cycle could one day be issued from the radio broadcasts.

Its a big shame that the BBC Legends discs have dried up as there must be stacks of BH radio recordings in the vaults.

Though probably not Mahlerei's cup of tea, the new Bruckner 5 has a magnetism for me to rival the splendiferous LSO Alpine.

[freegoat]

I first got to know Debussy's orchestral music through Haitink's Philips recordings. I've enjoyed others since then, but I keep coming back to Haitink. I also second the nomination of his Bluebeard with John Tomlinson and Anne-Sofie von Otter as something special.

[StephenO]

A couple of LSO Live discs - Eine Alpensinfonie and Brahms 2/Double Concerto. I've got fond memories of his Mahler recordings on Philips which I remember borrowing from my local record library when I was a teenager.

[madamesuggia]

Greetings message boarders

I'm very fond of haitink's recording of Bruckner's 3rd symphony with the VPO on Philips

[perfect wagnerite]

Good to be reminded of that Daphne recording - did it ever come out on CD ?

I suppose there is hope that the ROH Ring Cycle could one day be issued from the radio broadcasts.

The Daphne certainly was available on CD once, but not for some time as far as I know. As far as the Ring is concerned I guess the fact that John Tomlinson and Anne Evans sing the same roles on the Barenboim recordings means there would be copyright problems.

[Alison]

Happily I did have the sense to record the Haitink Ring on the audio track of my old VHS recorder.

The warmth of the original broadcast is superbly conveyed in good old fashioned analogue sound.

[Bryn]

You can get Daphne via amazon.com. Not exactly bargain basement though.