This Week in Classical Music: October 24, 2021.Bernard Haitink.Although it was bound to happen sooner rather than later – he was 92 after all, and slowing down, yet the news of Bernard Haitink’s death was a sad one.Haitink, an unassuming man and great conductor, died in his home in London.We were lucky to have heard him live many times, as, in the role of Principal Conductor, he led the Chicago Symphony for four years, from 2006 to 2010.One memory is indelible, that of Mahler’s Symphony no. 6, in 2007.Rarely did the Chicago Symphony play as beautifully, and rarely was the music presented with such poignancy and completeness.He was offered the position of Music Director at Chicago but refused: his explanation back then was that he was too old, though we suspect that he just didn’t want to deal with the financial and social obligations that come with the title; he wanted to make music.
Bernard Haitink was born in Amsterdam on March 4th of 1929.As a child he studied the violin but never played on a level that satisfied him.In 1954-55 he took several conducting courses, and it became apparent that that was his true calling.In 1957 he became Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.In 1956 he was invited as a replacement for an ailing conductor to lead a performance of Cherubini’s Requiem with the Concertgebouw.In a very telling episode, he first refused, saying that he wasn’t ready ready, even though he had already conducted the piece; fortunately, at the last moment he changed his mind.The performance went very well, several engagements followed and in 1961 he was made the Principal Conductor of the Concertgebouw, the youngest ever.He shared this position with the eminent German conductor Eugen Jochum till the latter retired in 1964, and then, on his own, till 1988.At the same time, since 1964, he was the Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic.He widely traveled with both orchestras, performing in the US and around the world.While in England, he was also the Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival (from 1978 to 1988) and the Royal Covent Garden Opera (from 1987 to 2002).From 2002 to 2006 he was the Principal Conductor of the Dresden Staatskapelle and Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Symphony.
Haitink’s discography is extensive: he recorded all symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, Debussy and Ravel’s symphonic pieces and many more, but Mahler and Bruckner constituted the core of his repertory.
In his obituary, the New York Time quoted their former chief music critic Harold Schonberg who said that Haitink was “not one of the glamour boys on the podium… He does not dance, he does not patronize the best tailor on the Continent.”It seems what Schonberg was implying that Haitink was the opposite of Herbert von Karajan.We’ll miss Bernard Haitink dearly.
Here’s the third movement of Mahler’s Symphony no. 6, which he recorded live in 2007 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Bernard Haitink, 2021
This Week in Classical Music: October 24, 2021. Bernard Haitink. Although it was bound to happen sooner rather than later – he was 92 after all, and slowing down, yet the news of Bernard
Haitink’s death was a sad one. Haitink, an unassuming man and great conductor, died in his home in London. We were lucky to have heard him live many times, as, in the role of Principal Conductor, he led the Chicago Symphony for four years, from 2006 to 2010. One memory is indelible, that of Mahler’s Symphony no. 6, in 2007. Rarely did the Chicago Symphony play as beautifully, and rarely was the music presented with such poignancy and completeness. He was offered the position of Music Director at Chicago but refused: his explanation back then was that he was too old, though we suspect that he just didn’t want to deal with the financial and social obligations that come with the title; he wanted to make music.
Bernard Haitink was born in Amsterdam on March 4th of 1929. As a child he studied the violin but never played on a level that satisfied him. In 1954-55 he took several conducting courses, and it became apparent that that was his true calling. In 1957 he became Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1956 he was invited as a replacement for an ailing conductor to lead a performance of Cherubini’s Requiem with the Concertgebouw. In a very telling episode, he first refused, saying that he wasn’t ready ready, even though he had already conducted the piece; fortunately, at the last moment he changed his mind. The performance went very well, several engagements followed and in 1961 he was made the Principal Conductor of the Concertgebouw, the youngest ever. He shared this position with the eminent German conductor Eugen Jochum till the latter retired in 1964, and then, on his own, till 1988. At the same time, since 1964, he was the Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic. He widely traveled with both orchestras, performing in the US and around the world. While in England, he was also the Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival (from 1978 to 1988) and the Royal Covent Garden Opera (from 1987 to 2002). From 2002 to 2006 he was the Principal Conductor of the Dresden Staatskapelle and Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Symphony.
Haitink’s discography is extensive: he recorded all symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, Debussy and Ravel’s symphonic pieces and many more, but Mahler and Bruckner constituted the core of his repertory.
In his obituary, the New York Time quoted their former chief music critic Harold Schonberg who said that Haitink was “not one of the glamour boys on the podium… He does not dance, he does not patronize the best tailor on the Continent.” It seems what Schonberg was implying that Haitink was the opposite of Herbert von Karajan. We’ll miss Bernard Haitink dearly.
Here’s the third movement of Mahler’s Symphony no. 6, which he recorded live in 2007 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.