Bernard Haitink

Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink, a civil servant who was to become director of the Amsterdam electricity board, and Anna Clara Verschaffelt, who worked for Alliance Française.[1] He studied the violin and conducting, with Felix Hupka,[2] who conducted the school's orchestra,[3] at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He then played the violin in orchestras before taking courses in conducting under Ferdinand Leitner in 1954 and 1955.

Bernard Haitink (1959)

Haitink conducted his first concert on 19 July 1954 with the Netherlands Radio Union Orchestra (later the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic [RFO]).[4] He became second conductor of the orchestra in 1955, and chief conductor of the orchestra in 1957. His conducting debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra was on 7 November 1956, substituting for Carlo Maria Giulini.[5] 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.[6] With the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Haitink made many recordings for the Philips label, and later Decca and EMI Classics, and toured widely with the orchestra.

In the early 1980s, Haitink threatened to resign his Concertgebouw post in protest at threatened reductions to its subsidy from the Dutch government, which could have led to the dismissal of 23 musicians from the orchestra. The financial situation was eventually settled,[7] and Haitink remained as chief conductor until 1988. In 1999, he was named the honorary conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In December 2012, following his advocacy for the RFO in the wake of proposed budget cuts to the orchestra and Dutch music in general, Haitink accepted the title of patron of the RFO.[4] In March 2014, Haitink stated to the Dutch newspaper Het Parool that he wished to renounce the title of RCO conductor laureate and no longer to guest-conduct the orchestra, in protest at the orchestra's current administrative management.[8] In September 2015, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra announced a rapprochement with Haitink, with a scheduled guest-conducting engagement with the orchestra in the 2016–2017 season.[9][10]

Haitink was Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967 to 1979. Haitink was also Music Director at Glyndebourne Opera in England from 1978 to 1988. He was Music Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1987 to 2002, where his musicianship was praised though he received criticism for his degree of attachment to the organisation as a whole.[11][12]

From 2002 to 2004, Haitink was Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. His original contract with Dresden ran to 2006, but Haitink resigned in 2004 over disputes with the Staatskapelle's Intendant, Gerd Uecker, on the orchestra's choice of successor.[13]

At the Barbican Centre in London with the London Symphony Orchestra, 2011

Haitink 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 the London Symphony Orchestra. In the early 2000s, he recorded the complete Beethoven and Brahms symphony cycles with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) for the LSO Live label. 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.[14] The duration of the contract was four years.[15] Haitink had declined an offer from the CSO to be music director, citing his age.[16] With respect to this contract, Haitink stated that "every conductor, including myself, has a sell-by date."[17] He concluded his Chicago principal conductorship in June 2010 with a series of concerts of the complete Beethoven symphonies[18] and being awarded the Theodore Thomas Medallion by the orchestra.[19]

Haitink has conducted and recorded a wide variety of repertoire, with the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich and Vaughan Williams, and the complete piano concertos of Beethoven and Brahms with Claudio Arrau notable among his recordings.[20] Haitink has made many recordings for several labels, including Philips Records, EMI Classics, Columbia Records, LSO Live, RCO Live, and CSO Resound. Other recordings include the complete orchestral works of Debussy, the two symphonies of Elgar, the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas, and Wagner's complete opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, and the opera Tannhäuser.

Haitink 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.[21] However, an April 2007 announcement stated that Haitink would return to the Royal Opera in December 2007, with the same Zurich production of Parsifal,[22] and he fulfilled this engagement.[23]

Haitink has led master classes in conducting for young conductors in Lucerne for several years.[24] In June 2015, the European Union Youth Orchestra announced the appointment of Haitink as its conductor laureate, effective immediately.[25]

In June 2019 Haitink stated in an interview with De Volkskrant that his final concert as conductor was to be in September 2019, formalising his previously announced sabbatical into retirement.[26] His final concerts as conductor with ensembles with whom he was formally associated were as follows:

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra: 30 October 2018
• Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam: 27 January 2019
• Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra: 15 June 2019[27]

Haitink's final UK concert was at The Proms in London on 3 September 2019, his 90th Prom, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.[28] His last concert was in Lucerne at the KKL on 6 September 2019, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.[29]

Haitink has five children from his first marriage to Marjolein Snijder.[1] Haitink lives in West London with his fourth wife, Patricia Bloomfield, a barrister and former viola player in the Covent Garden Opera orchestra.[1][30][31]

In 2019, Bärenreiter published the book Dirigieren ist ein Rätsel ('Conducting is a Mystery'), a collaboration between Haitink and the journalists Peter Hagmann and Erich Singer that includes biographical reflections by Haitink on his life and career.[32]

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra:

• Johannes Brahms: Symphonies 1-4, Piano Concertos 1-2 with Claudio Arrau (Philips)
• Anton Bruckner: Symphonies 0-9 (Philips)
• Claude Debussy: Orchestral Works (Philips, 1976–79)
• Gustav Mahler
  • Symphonies 1–9 (Philips)
  • Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection", Elly Ameling, Aafje Heynis, Netherlands Radio Chorus, (Philips 1968).
  • Symphony No. 5 (remastered PENTATONE)
  • Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand” (remastered PENTATONE)
  • Symphonies Nos. 1-5, 7, 9 (Kerstmatinee/Christmas Matinee; Philips)
  • Symphony No. 4 (RCO Live SACD)
• Maurice Ravel
  • Orchestral Works (Philips 1971–77)
  • Daphnis et Chloé Suites & Ma mère l’oye (remastered PENTATONE)
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 1-6 & Manfred (Philips, 1979)
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 (RCO live 2012).
• Robert Schumann: Symphony No.3 in E flat "Rhenish" (Philips 411 104-1, 1983)
• Symphony Edition box set of RCO recordings of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Schumann, Tchaikovsky (36 CDs - Decca, 2014)

Boston Symphony Orchestra:

• Johannes Brahms
  • Symphony No. 1, Nanie with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (Philips, 1994)
  • Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Tragic Overture (Philips, 1990)
  • Symphony No. 3, Alto Rhapsody with Jard Van Nes with the men of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (Philips, 1993)
  • Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Haydn Variations (Philips, 1992)
  • Piano Concerto No. 2, with Emanuel Ax (Sony, 1997)
• Maurice Ravel
  • Daphnis and Chloe with Tanglewood Festival Chorus (Philips, 1989)
  • Ma Mere l'Oye, Menuet antique, Rapsodie espagnole, La Valse (Philips, 1995)
  • Alborada del Gracioso, Bolero, Le tombeau de Couperin, Valses nobles et sentimentales (Philips, 1996)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra:

• Gustav Mahler
  • Symphony No. 2[35] (2009)
  • Symphony No. 3[36][37] (2007)
  • Symphony No. 6[38] (2008)
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4[39] (2008)
• Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (with Anton Webern: Im Sommerwind)[40] (2010)

London Philharmonic Orchestra:

• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Piano Concertos Nos 1-5 / Choral Fantasy - Alfred Brendel, piano (Philips)
  • Symphonies Nos 1-9 (Philips)
  • Triple Concerto - Beaux Arts Trio (Philips)
• Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
• Franz Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems (Philips)
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Rodney Friend, violin solo - (Philips 6500410, 1970s)
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • Symphonies Nos. 1-4, 7, 9, 10, 15 (Decca)
  • Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93 - (LPO 0034) Recorded in 1986, Released in 2009
• Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 1-9 (EMI)
• Various: Glyndebourne Festival Opera: a Gala Evening (1992, Arthaus DVD, 100-432)

London Symphony Orchestra:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 1-9 (LSO Live)
• Johannes Brahms: Symphonies Nos 1-4/Double Concerto/Serenade No 2 (LSO Live)
• Anton Bruckner: Symphony No 4; Symphony No 9 (LSO Live)
• Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie - (LSO Live LSO0689) Recorded in 2008, Released in 2010[41]

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra:

• Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 (BR-KLASSIK 900109)
• Gustav Mahler: Symphony Nos. 3 and 9 (BR-KLASSIK 900149 and 900113)
• Joseph Haydn: The Creation (BR-KLASSIK 900125)
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (BR-KLASSIK 900130)
• Richard Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen (EMI)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bernard Haitink.

• List of recordings from Dutch Divas website
• Bernard Haitink at AllMusic
• Askonas Holt agency page on Bernard Haitink

Interviews

• Bernard Haitink interview, 13 January 1997