Bernard Johan Herman Haitink
CH KBE (born 4 March 1929) is a Dutch conductor and violinist.
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BERNARD HAITINK TICKETS
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Early life
Haitink was born in
Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink.
[1] He studied music at the
conservatoire in Amsterdam. He played the
violin in orchestras before taking courses in conducting under
Ferdinand Leitner in 1954 and 1955.
Career
Haitink became second conductor of the Netherlands Radio Union Orchestra in 1955. He took the post of chief conductor of the
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in 1957. His conducting debut with the
Concertgebouw Orchestra was on 7 November 1956, substituting for
Carlo Maria Giulini.
[2] After the sudden death of
Eduard van Beinum, Haitink was named first conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra on 1 September 1959. He became principal conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961, and shared that position jointly with
Eugen Jochum until 1963, when Haitink became sole principal conductor.
[3]
In the early 1980s, Haitink threatened to resign his Concertgebouw post in protest at threatened reductions to its government subsidy by the Dutch government, which could potentially have led to the dismissal of 23 musicians from the orchestra. The financial situation was eventually settled
[4], and Haitink remained as chief conductor until 1988. In 1999, he was named the honorary conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Outside of
The Netherlands, Haitink was principal conductor of the
London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967 to 1979. Haitink also served as the music director at
Glyndebourne Opera from 1978 to 1988.
He held the same position at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1987 to 2002, where he was praised for his musicianship, but received criticism for the degree of attachment to the entire organisation.
[5] [6]
From 2002 to 2004, he was chief conductor of the
Dresden Staatskapelle. His original contract with Dresden was through 2006, but Haitink resigned in 2004 over disputes with the Staatskapelle's
Intendant
, Gerd Uecker, on the orchestra's choice of successor.
[7]
As a guest conductor, Haitink has served as principal guest conductor of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2004, when he took on the new title of conductor emeritus. In addition, he has appeared with l'
Orchestre National de France and
London Symphony Orchestra. In the early 2000s, he recorded the complete
Beethoven and
Brahms symphony cycles with the London Symphony Orchestra live in concert; the releases were part of the orchestra's influential venture into self-produced recordings on the "LSO Live" label. The Beethoven cycle in particular won several awards. Haitink has also continued his long associations with the
Vienna Philharmonic and
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Haitink is an honorary member of the
Berlin Philharmonic.
In April 2006, after an acclaimed two-week engagement in March 2006 with the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), the CSO appointed Haitink to the newly created position of principal conductor, effective as of the 2006-2007 season.
[8] The duration of the contract is four years.
[9] Haitink had declined an offer from the CSO to be music director, citing his age.
[10] With respect to this contract, Haitink stated that "every conductor, including myself, has a sell-by date."
[11]
In 1977, he was awarded an honorary knighthood in the
Order of the British Empire (KBE). In 2002, he was created an honorary Companion of Honour (
CH).
[12] Musical America named Haitink its 2007 Musician of the Year.
[13]
Haitink has conducted a wide variety of repertoire, with the complete symphonies of
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Johannes Brahms,
Robert Schumann,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
Anton Bruckner,
Gustav Mahler,
Dmitri Shostakovich,
Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the complete piano concertos of Beethoven and Brahms with
Claudio Arrau notable among his recordings.
[14] In November 2006, the CSO announced a new radio and recording initiative, the first CD recording release of which was taken from Haitink's performances with the CSO in October 2006 of the
Symphony No. 3
of
Gustav Mahler.
[15] [16] This recording was released in May 2007.
Haitink formally stated in a 2004 article that he would no longer conduct opera, but he made exceptions in 2007, directing three performances of
Parsifal
in Zurich in March and April and five of
Pelléas et Mélisande
in
Paris (
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées) in June. He stated in 2004 that he did not plan to conduct again at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.
[17] However, an April 2007 announcement stated that Haitink would return to the Royal Opera in December 2007, with the same Zurich production of
Parsifal
,
[18] and he fulfilled this engagement.
[19]
Personal life
Haitink has five children from his first marriage to Marjolein Snijder. He and his fourth wife, the former Patricia Bloomfield, a barrister and past viola player in the Covent Garden Opera orchestra, have a home in Switzerland.
Selected discography
Haitink has made many recordings for several labels, including
Philips Records,
EMI Classics,
Columbia Records,
LSO Live, KCO Live, and
CSO Resound. Other recordings include the complete orchestral works of
Claude Debussy, the two symphonies of
Edward Elgar, the three
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/
Lorenzo Da Ponte operas, and the complete opera cycle
Der Ring des Nibelungen
. His recordings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra include the following:
- 1993 Johannes Brahms: Alto Rhapsody
with Jard Van Nes with the men of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (Philips)
- 1992 Johannes Brahms: Haydn Variations
(Philips)
- 1994 Johannes Brahms: Nanie
with Tanglewood Festival Chorus (Philips)
- 1990 Johannes Brahms: Tragic Festival
(Philips)
- 1994 Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 (Philips)
- 1990 Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 (Philips)
- 1993 Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3 (Philips)
- 1992 Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 (Philips)
- 1997 Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, Pianist: Emanuel Ax (Sony)
- 1996 Maurice Ravel: Alborada del Gracioso
(Philips)
- 1996 Maurice Ravel: Bolero
(Philips)
- 1989 Maurice Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe
with Tanglewood Festival Chorus (Philips)
- 1995 Maurice Ravel: Ma Mere l'Oye
(Philips)
- 1995 Maurice Ravel: Menuet antique
(Philips)
- 1995 Maurice Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole
(Philips)
- 1996 Maurice Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
(Philips)
- 1995 Maurice Ravel: La Valse
(Philips)
- 1996 Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
(Philips)
References
- Master of the House
- The Diffident Dutchman
- The orchestra's own website gives 1963 as the date when Haitink became sole principal conductor.
- An Eminently Rational Man In an Irrational Profession
- For a Reluctant Maestro, Relief, No Regrets, in Berlin
- A great musician - but that was not enough
- Bernard Haitink: unfinished symphony
- Symphony in good hands
- Arts, Briefly; Chicago Symphony: Conductors but No Music Director
- Bernard Haitink: I love power without responsibility
- A Jet-Setting Maestro Sets a Brisker Pace for Beethoven
- Queen honours conductor Haitink
- CSO Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink Named Musical America's 2007 Musician Of The Year
- Mahler: The Complete Symphonies
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra Announces Major Radio And Recording Initiatives
- Haitink, CSO make magic with Mahler
- I started far too young. I still have sleepless nights ...
- Breaking News: Next Royal Opera Season Promises Minotaur Premiere, New Salome, Voigt as Ariadne
- Parsifal (Royal Opera House, London)