Bernard Haitink
Long the leader of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, conductor Bernard Haitink was widely regarded as one of the finest conductors of the 20th century. He was known for meticulous but exciting performances of a wide variety of orchestral repertory, and he also conducted opera.
Haitink was born in Amsterdam on March 4, 1929. His father was a municipal electricity executive, and his mother was an employee of the local Alliance Française. Haitink began his career as a violinist, studying the violin at the Amsterdam Conservatory and also taking some conducting lessons. For several years, he played the violin in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, but he switched to conducting in the mid-1950s, taking lessons with Ferdinand Leitner. Named second conductor with the Netherlands Radio Union, he led four different ensembles before being promoted to principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in 1957. A substitute appearance for the ailing Carlo Maria Giulini at the Concertgebouw Orchestra led to frequent guest appearances with that group and finally to Haitink's appointment as principal conductor in 1961, at first jointly with Eugen Jochum, and then, in 1963, as sole principal conductor.
Recordings of orchestral and concerto repertory with Haitink leading the Concertgebouw Orchestra were staples of the Philips label catalog, and later, those of Decca and EMI, through much of the later LP era, and well into those of CDs and online reproduction. Haitink also served as the music director of the London Philharmonic from 1967 to 1979 and made recordings with that group as well. His recordings focused on 19th century Romantic repertory but extended back to Mozart and into the 20th century, featuring composers as diverse as Ravel, Shostakovich, and Vaughan Williams. In the vast works of Wagner and Bruckner, his control and precision were nonpareil. Haitink was quite active as an opera conductor in Britain, where he took up residence. He was the music director of the Glyndebourne Festival from 1977 to 1988 and of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London from 1987 to 2002, recording both French and German opera with these groups. In 1988, Haitink resigned from his conductorship at the Concertgebouw in frustration over government cutbacks; he returned to conducting there after a reconciliation several years later and continued to appear with the group until shortly before his retirement in 2019. He also guest conducted widely with European groups, including the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic, as well as the Boston Symphony, where he was named principal guest conductor. Haitink remained active, in the Netherlands, Britain, and elsewhere, through several decades of senior citizen status.
Haitink's recordings number over 450. He continued to record through his eighties, making a new recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ("Choral") with the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in 2019, just days before his 90th birthday. In that year, he announced his retirement, making his final Proms appearance in London with the Vienna Philharmonic on September 3, 2019, marking his 90th Proms appearance. His final appearance came three days later with that orchestra in Lucerne, Switzerland. New releases and reissues of Haitink performances continued uninterrupted; a live recording of Haitink's last Amsterdam appearance, in Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, was released just days before his death on October 21, 2021, at his home in London. Haitink was the holder of an honorary British knighthood and was a member of the House Order of Orange-Nassau, an honor bestowed by the Dutch queen.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Sanctus (Missa solemnis) (Herman Krebbers Edition, Vol. 10)
Herman Krebbers, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 25 Aug 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler, G.: Symphony No. 3 (Gustav Mahler - Traditional - Friedrich Nietzsche)
Classical - Released by CSO Resound on 8 May 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 & Triple Concerto
Bernard Haitink, Gordan Nikolitch, Lars Vogt, London Symphony Orchestra, Tim Hugh
Symphonies - Released by LSO Live on 11 Apr 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 1
Bernard Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by LSO Live on 3 Oct 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 3, 4 & 9 (Live)
Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Gerhild Romberger, Juliane Banse, Bernard Haitink, Augsburger Domsingknaben, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Classical - Released by BR-Klassik on 4 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Bernard Haitink, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Double Concerto / Beethoven: 2 Romances
Henryk Szeryng, Janos Starker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 31 Jan 1971
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.1; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1972
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Bernard Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra
Symphonic Music - Released by LSO Live on 10 Feb 2014
5 de DiapasonGramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Triple Concerto (Bonus Track Version)
London Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, Maria João Pires, Gordan Nikolitch, Tim Hugh, Lars Vogt
Concertos - Released by LSO Live on 11 Apr 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Dec 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2
Bernard Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra, Maria João Pires
Classical - Released by LSO Live on 9 Oct 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 2
Bernard Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by LSO Live on 13 Jun 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Classical - Released by Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on 11 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 2
Sylvia McNair, Jard van Nes, Ernst Senff Chor, Berliner Philharmoniker, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 & Triple Concerto
Bernard Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra, Gordan Nikolitch, Lars Vogt, Tim Hugh
Symphonic Music - Released by LSO Live on 11 Apr 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No.3
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dmitri Shostakovich : The Symphonies
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, R.: Five Great Tone Poems
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, Eugen Jochum
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo