Haitink's new Bruckner 9

[Barbirollians]

A qualified welcome from SJ and JS last week - some duff reviews on Amazon.

A rave review from Nigel Simeone in IRR . What is the verdict of forumites ? Worth getting ?

[richardfinegold]

A qualified welcome from SJ and JS last week - some duff reviews on Amazon.

A rave review from Nigel Simeone in IRR . What is the verdict of forumites ? Worth getting ?

I saw the rave in IRR.
I didn't like the 7th that he recorded with the Chicago SO. It probably isn't fair to B.H. to compare his work with his younger self, but I thought his Amsterdam 7th of 30 years previous showed greater focus and intensity. Still, I've heard him conduct some wonderful performances here recently, so I'd like to hear the recording of the 9th.

[Sir Velo]

A qualified welcome from SJ and JS last week - some duff reviews on Amazon.

A rave review from Nigel Simeone in IRR . What is the verdict of forumites ? Worth getting ?

What we heard on CD Review (which I grant can be misleading) the Scherzo sounded ponderous, with tempos in the outer movements unusually slow. In most composers this sounds like a major problem; in Bruckner it can add to the monumentality and grandeur.

[richardfinegold]

What we heard on CD Review (which I grant can be misleading) the Scherzo sounded ponderous, with tempos in the outer movements unusually slow. In most composers this sounds like a major problem; in Bruckner it can add to the monumentality and grandeur.

I was glancing IRR again last night and I found it curious that while Haitink is on the cover and the caption praises the recording, in the actual review they didn't award it one of their marks of distinction. The reviewer also seems to hedge on whether his first Amsterdam recording from the mid 60s is to be prefered .

[Petrushka]

There can be no doubt, at least in my mind, that Bernard Haitink is the foremost Bruckner interpreter of our time and what we have in this 2013 recording is the distillation of a lifetime's experience and wisdom. One must assume that this will be Haitink's last word on a symphony he clearly loves as I can't see the likelihood of another recording in the future.

The first thing to say about this new recording is that it is slow, extremely slow and almost Klemperer like in it's being hewn from granite. I was present at the first of the two performances from which this disc is taken (Feb 17 2013) but at no time while I was in the Barbican was I conscious of just how slow. Despite the expansive timing the performance never hangs fire and that it doesn't is a tribute to Haitink's skill in giving us his vision of the work and guiding the LSO to join him in it.

Two caveats come to mind: the dreaded Barbican acoustic often cruel to recordings but not something that bothers me in the hall and it may concern others more than it concerns me; and the fact that this is the London Symphony Orchestra. The LSO could not be described as a Bruckner orchestra in the same breath as, what Alison rightly called, the burnished gold and brown of the Concertgebouw, the VPO or BPO who play Bruckner as to the manner born. One has to presume that Haitink wanted his final word on this work to be with them and not, say, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with whom he recorded the Bruckner 5th. Again, this may or may not matter to potential purchasers but it is one thing that makes me regret that Haitink didn't turn elsewhere.

In the concert hall, this was an overwhelming experience when such caveats as I mention don't matter. It's overwhelming on CD too in it's own way but it is most certainly not a Bruckner 9 to play every day of the week. I first heard Haitink in this symphony at a 1983 Prom with the Concertgebouw, a shattering performance that I wish was available on CD (one lives in hope) and have heard him live in it several times since. My advice would be to buy it at the modest asking price and hear for yourself!

[akiralx]

I wonder why he keeps returning to (or at least re-recording) these works and not Elgar, Debussy and others which he recorded so well earlier in his career.
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[Alison]

I wonder why he keeps returning to (or at least re-recording) these works and not Elgar, Debussy and others which he recorded so well earlier in his career.
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It is his first Bruckner 9 Recording in over 30 years.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I wonder why he keeps returning to (or at least re-recording) these works and not Elgar, Debussy and others which he recorded so well earlier in his career.
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Presumably, because he prefers them? (I agree; his Debussy recordings are wonderful achievements. But at this stage in his career, he must want only to spend time on those works which have the greatest meaning to him.)

[Lento]

I gather that Mahler is another composer to whom he doesn't return so much nowadays. In a radio interview he said he preferred to do Mahler 4 rather than the longer symphonies, though he might have been thinking of the demands of longer live performances at his age!

[Bryn]

I gather that Mahler is another composer to whom he doesn't return so much nowadays. In a radio interview he said he preferred to do Mahler 4 rather than the longer symphonies, though he might have been thinking of the demands of longer live performances at his age!

The Blu-ray of the Mahler 9 compiled from 4 May 2011 performances is one not to miss.



The other discs in the set are all worth having, too.

[amateur51]

It is his first Bruckner 9 Recording in over 30 years.

Thanks for this breath of fresh air, Alison

[Petrushka]

Haitink's repertoire has always been much broader than his recordings suggest. The Radio Recordings box (part of the RCO Anthology) will bear this out. The greatest pity, in my view, is that he has done very, very little Haydn and Mozart in recordings yet his live performances are as life-enhancing as any I've heard. There are some examples on youTube but a tiny amount on CD. Presumably, record companies over the years want Haitink for Bruckner and Mahler but there is much more to him than that. Perhaps one day the archives will oblige.

[amateur51]

Haitink's repertoire has always been much broader than his recordings suggest. The Radio Recordings box (part of the RCO Anthology) will bear this out. The greatest pity, in my view, is that he has done very, very little Haydn and Mozart in recordings yet his live performances are as life-enhancing as any I've heard. There are some examples on youTube but a tiny amount on CD. Presumably, record companies over the years want Haitink for Bruckner and Mahler but there is much more to him than that. Perhaps one day the archives will oblige.

Until then I'll keep attending his concerts - elements of last year's London performance of Shostakovich symphony no 8 are still available inside my noddle

[Barbirollians]

Another rave in BBC MM I see . Bernie's Cgebouw Bruckner 7 is not my favourite and is the only example of his Bruckner I have but this seems worth a try.

[cloughie]

His Tchaikovsky Symphonies are very good but as with any works why re-record them unless the interpretation has developed? Has his Bruckner changed in 30 years - has he gone down the Rattle route and added a movement? Talking of Bruckner 9 - I have recently bought the Van Beinum Concertgebouw 5 7 8 & 9 - great performances.