Bernard Haitink dies

[Alan Howe]

The death of this great conductor was announced today.

I remember a time when Mahler and Bruckner were pretty well unsung. Haitink contributed mightily to their emergence from obscurity in the 1960s.

[Justin]

I saw him conduct his second to last performance in Lucerne, Switzerland in August, 2019. Mahler No. 4 and it was the best performance I have heard of that work. He was visibly frail with a cane, but his knowledge of the piece was high and his interpretation could not have been surpassed. Perhaps the fact that he was about to retire enabled him to give such an emotional rendition. His work will be remembered and his presence missed.

[der79sebas]

Arguably the most boring conductor of all time...

[eschiss1]

Boring how?
His repertoire also included a number of unsung composers (not all of them 100% guaranteed certified Romantic, though. Eg, Hendrik Andriessen and Egon Wellesz.)
(If someone wants to argue with me that those two composers are actually -sung-, not just outside of our remit for other reasons, I admit to being flubbergusted )

[Alan Howe]

Arguably the most self-effacing of conductors. A great man.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Arguably the most boring conductor of all time...

De mortuis nil nisi bonum. That's what I was always taught.

[der79sebas]

In principle, yes. But in fact it is quite strange to read everywhere how great he was, when really everybody found his conducting very boring and nobody liked his "interpretations" (he even succeeded in making Shostakovich's Eight (!) dull - I never had this problem with any of his colleagues). He simply wasn't a good conductor and there is no reason to claim this now, just because he is gone. That's it.

[eschiss1]

Provably false.

[eschiss1]

(what do people here think of his RVW cycle for EMI, by the way?)

[M. Yaskovsky]

Boring? That's very very rude. Musicians of the KCO and the Dutch RSO loved him, and they did in Dresden, London, Vienna, Luzern, Chicago, Berlin.

[der79sebas]

Friendly and humble conductors loved by musicians are very often not conductors loved by audiences.

[Alan Howe]

really everybody found his conducting very boring and nobody liked his "interpretations"

As Eric said - provably false. I for one found him wise, sane and balanced. So did many. The finest performance I've ever heard of Schubert 9 was under his baton at the Proms a couple of years ago. It had all those characteristics and a fire that quite surprised me.
   One of Haitink's achievements was not to try to 'interpret' at all, but to let the music speak for itself. In this respect he was the opposite of many conductors old and new who tried/try to interpose themselves between the music and the audience. Admittedly, this could leave him open to the charge of being boring, but this was to confuse his restrained platform manner with the results he obtained. It was actually a very superficial criticism. It still is.

Friendly and humble conductors loved by musicians are very often not conductors loved by audiences.

Really? Haitink was loved by both musicians and audiences. Again, provably false - try the end of Bruckner 7 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMH8AgprRcY   He was clearly greatly admired - and LOVED. There are countless examples of this on YouTube.

[tappell]

Shy, quiet, reserved does not equal boring. Anyone who watched the recent television profile on Bernard Haitink, will have learnt that about the man. I see mention of his RVW cycle. I have listened to many performances of RVW Symphony No. 5, and to my ears Haitink's performance surpasses all. There is a quietness about the man, which spills over into his conducting in all the passages that gain from that approach, although he can imbue a performance with passion and urgency when appropriate.

He was deeply and personally affected by the war years, which no doubt helped shape his demeanour.

Particularly in his later years, he was adored by orchestras and audiences alike.

[Alan Howe]

Agreed! This is LOVE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_VfPtH4YkA

[semloh]

Well said, tappell.
I think he also shone in Shostakovich, perhaps evidence of a temperamental and personal affinity. He was the last of the great conductors who shaped the musical tastes of my generation.