Bernard Haitink (1929-2021)

[HighlandDougie]

"A long life, well-lived", for someone who brought so much musical pleasure to millions of people. A constant in my listening and concert attending for over 50 years, it's hard to imagine that he has gone but the recordings and the concert memories live on (that last Bruckner 9th with the LSO; DSCH 4th with the ECYO; much Mahler, not least the VPO 9th). RIP, Bernie.

[kernelbogey]

Bruckner 7

Bernard Haitink's final UK concert, with the VPO, at the 2019 Proms:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0010pm4

I take it that this is the performance Pet refers to above, which is coincidentally available now on Sounds.

RIP Bernard

[Barbirollians]

"A long life, well-lived", for someone who brought so much musical pleasure to millions of people. A constant in my listening and concert attending for over 50 years, it's hard to imagine that he has gone but the recordings and the concert memories live on (that last Bruckner 9th with the LSO; DSCH 4th with the ECYO; much Mahler, not least the VPO 9th). RIP, Bernie.

A great conductor and a very long innings. That VPO Prom was the only time I saw him conduct live but was indeed a transcendent experience. I love that early Bruckner 7 - so fiercely alive . Probably my favourite records of his are the Mahler 9 that Deryck Cooke adored and our Ferney disliked intensely and his Philips Debussy recordings which I shall be playing this morning.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I thought he was an outstanding director of music at the Royal Opera . It was evident from a BBC Two documentary that he often had to cope with productions that he was not entirely in sympathy with and handled it all with good grace and a kind of rueful humour - a consummate professional .I remember an outstanding Meistersinger in the 90’s - the brass blaze at the start of Act 3 bought tears to the eyes - how he could shape a phrase. Also a magnificent Ring Cycle . I went to his farewell gala where he was presented with a Vespa style motorcycle. The warmth towards him from audience , cast and orchestra was palpable.

[Frances_iom]

I thought he was an outstanding director of music at the Royal Opera . It was evident from a BBC Two documentary that he often had to cope with productions that he was not entirely in sympathy with and handled it all with good grace and a kind of rueful humour...

One of these must have been that dreadful ring cycle involving Brunhilde wearing a paper bag over her head - I had one of the one-time music student seats at the far end of the upper slips and watched his expression rather than the production - it was very obvious what he thought of certain scenes.

[Ein Heldenleben]

One of these must have been that dreadful ring cycle involving Brunhilde wearing a paper bag over her head - I had one of the one-time music student seats at the far end of the upper slips and watched his expression rather than the production - it was very obvious what he thought of certain scenes.

Yes I was trying to accentuate the positive! It was a close you eyes and listen to the glorious music making night wasn’t it ?

[Petrushka]

Haitink's recorded legacy is huge but it's the concert memories that dominate my mind this morning. In all of the many I attended I cannot think of one that was below the highest of standards. If you went to a Haitink concert you knew that you weren't wasting your time or money and an enriching experience was assured.

A particularly vivid concert memory is of a quite wonderful Elgar 1 with the BBC SO at the 1982 Proms; another, Haitink leaping in the air, Bernstein-like, off the platform at the conclusion of a thrilling LPO Ravel Daphnis in 1979; sitting amongst the members of the Concertgebouw backstage after Bernstein's Mahler 9 in 1985; his superb series of Barbican concerts celebrating his 75th birthday in 2004, especially a life-changing Mahler 3 with the BPO; a gripping Shostakovich 5 with the Concertgebouw in Birmingham Town Hall in 1981. And so much more.

And Bruckner 7, of course. I heard him in this with the BBC SO, the EUYO, BPO, Staatskapelle Dresden, the Chicago SO and the VPO.

He gave 1513 concerts with the Concertgebouw in an astonishing range of repertoire, much wider than his recorded legacy suggests, and it's good to have some of them in the RCO125 box which I'll no doubt be plundering in the coming days.

[Petrushka]

From the London Symphony Orchestra: https://lso.co.uk/more/news/1723-tri...d-haitink.html

From the Wiener Philharmoniker: https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/...d-haitink/6174

From the Concertgebouworkest: https://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/en/bernard-haitink-1

[LHC]

Haitink's recorded legacy is huge but it's the concert memories that dominate my mind this morning. In all of the many I attended I cannot think of one that was below the highest of standards. If you went to a Haitink concert you knew that you weren't wasting your time or money and an enriching experience was assured.

A particularly vivid concert memory is of a quite wonderful Elgar 1 with the BBC SO at the 1982 Proms; another, Haitink leaping in the air, Bernstein-like, off the platform at the conclusion of a thrilling LPO Ravel Daphnis in 1979; sitting amongst the members of the Concertgebouw backstage after Bernstein's Mahler 9 in 1985; his superb series of Barbican concerts celebrating his 75th birthday in 2004, especially a life-changing Mahler 3 with the BPO; a gripping Shostakovich 5 with the Concertgebouw in Birmingham Town Hall in 1981. And so much more.

And Bruckner 7, of course. I heard him in this with the BBC SO, the EUYO, BPO, Staatskapelle Dresden, the Chicago SO and the VPO.

He gave 1513 concerts with the Concertgebouw in an astonishing range of repertoire, much wider than his recorded legacy suggests, and it's good to have some of them in the RCO125 box which I'll no doubt be plundering in the coming days.

I agree with all of this.

I was lucky enough to attend nearly all of Haitink’s London concerts over the last 30 years, and as you say, his concerts were always special occasions. I too was at the series of concerts he conducted at the Barbican in 2004 to celebrate his 75th birthday, and they remain particularly cherished memories. I still remember feeling at the end of the first movement of Mahler 6 with the LSO that we were hearing a quite phenomenal performance. But the Mahler 3 with the BPO was even better, and is still probably the finest performance of any symphony I have attended. I remember meeting up with a friend after the concert and us both being lost for words to describe what we had both seen and heard. In a lifetime of concert going it is only equalled for me by Otello at Covent Garden with Carlos Kleiber.

Other cherished memories include a ferocious Shostakovich 10 with the LPO at the Festival Hall, with him leaping up and down on the podium during the Scherzo (no one who had experienced that could ever call him boring), a Don Carlos at the Opera House that just seemed to get better and better as the evening went on, the Ring Cycle, Meistersingers and especially Parsifal at the Opera House, and of course, many performances of Bruckner 7 over the years.

As sad as it is to think he has gone, what a fantastic legacy he has left for us.

[jayne lee wilson]

His Bruckner fed my soul so often, from those early LPs, the Proms, later the CDs..... the live concerts from the Berlin DCH......
The 7th was a signature piece for him, as Petrushka's eloquent and informed testimonies imply.

But I'll turn first to his wonderful Debussy with the RCOA.... an instant classic, and one for all times to come....

[Simon Biazeck]

My first contract at the ROH was as a Lehrbube (Apprentice) in Graham Vick's production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. What an experience - never to be forgotten! Next was Parsifal and then his farewell concert, the 2nd half of which was Act III of Meistersinger. Some tiime later I ran into him in that charming second-hand music shop nearby, Travis & Emery. He spoke to me as if we knew one another. He may have recognized me - one saw him often enough about the The House - but whether he did or he didn't, he was as charming and genuine as ever. What a privilege to have come into his orbit. Vale, Maestro.

[Ein Heldenleben]

My first contract at the ROH was as a Lehrbube (Apprentice) in Graham Vick's production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. What an experience - never to be forgotten! Next was Parsifal and then his farewell concert, the 2nd half of which was Act III of Meistersinger. Some tiime later I ran into him in that charming second-hand music shop nearby, Travis & Emery. He spoke to me as if we knew one another. He may have recognized me - one saw him often enough about the The House - but whether he did or he didn't, he was as charming and genuine as ever. What a privilege to have come into his orbit. Vale, Maestro.

Lovely tribute . One got the same impression of his personality from the stalls. I once sat in row A in one of those (then) cheaper seats right behind the conductor. Watching him was so fascinating I stopped looking at the stage . I think it was Tristan. I must have heard you as I went to quite a few Meistersingers in the Tom Allen as Beckmesser days and also went to the Gala.

[Simon Biazeck]

Lovely tribute . One got the same impression of his personality from the stalls. I once sat in row A in one of those (then) cheaper seats right behind the conductor. Watching him was so fascinating I stopped looking at the stage . I think it was Tristan. I must have heard you as I went to quite a few Meistersingers in the Tom Allen as Beckmesser days and also went to the Gala.

Thanks. Yes, you probably did, one way or another! I now recall a fabulous Daphnis and Chloë with the BBC Singers at the RFH. He was mesmerising to watch. Some say he wasn't always in contact with the stage in opera. Well, whenever one looked at him it was crystal clear and one was left in no doubt where it was going.

[Alison]

A tremendous orchestral builder of course. The LPO became a much more refined instrument under his tenure as did, even more so, the orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

[ardcarp]

There will be many forum mourners. A true servant to music over 60+ years.

Indeed.