# Congratulations to Bernard Haitink on his 90th Birthday



## nobilmente

Bernard Haitink CH KBE celebrated his 90th birthday on March 4th, and he recently gave a concert with the LSO to mark the occasion. Here it is, you need to skip the first 1'30" as it looks as if it isn't playing.






A review of the concert: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...barbican-90th-birthday-bruckner-mozart-review


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## flamencosketches

Happy belated. I just listened to Haitink's Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune. It was so good. The Royal Concertgebouw always has the most killer sound. Impeccable clarity. 

I want to explore this conductor more. What are some other highlights of his recordings (particularly with the Concertgebouw)?


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## Merl

flamencosketches said:


> Happy belated. I just listened to Haitink's Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune. It was so good. The Royal Concertgebouw always has the most killer sound. Impeccable clarity.
> 
> I want to explore this conductor more. What are some other highlights of his recordings (particularly with the Concertgebouw)?


Actually two of his best symphony cycles are with the LSO (live). His Beethoven and Brahms cycles in London are both excellent (I highly recommend both) but his earlier 2 Beethoven cycles are good, as is his impressive Brahms BSO cycle. Otherwise he's blessed us with plenty of excellent Bruckner symphony recordings, some very impressive Shostakovich accounts, some very nice Vaughan Williams symphonies and lots of very good Mahler (his Mahlerfest 1995 recordings are exceptional). IMO, he's a conductor who's got better and better with age and rather than slowing down and staying safe, as many conductors do as they get older, he's actually taking more risks in his recordings. Some of his recordings in the past ten years or so have been terrific


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## flamencosketches

Good looking out. I'm not sure I'm in the market to pick up a complete cycle of his, but if anything I might go for that Brahms. I like the LSO quite a bit too.


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## Merl

BTW, a word of warning. I know that his LSO Brahms cycle is a mixed bag for some and garnered some very polarised reviews but there's something about the sound of it I like. It's unusually broader than Haitink's other Brahms with the BSO and Concertgebouw but I do like it a lot (although the Concertgebouw set is equally enjoyable and can be picked up less expensively on the secondhand market). I'd listen to the LSO cycle first. Some are less enthusiastic than me. If you want a truly stellar Brahms cycle, Flamencosketches, I'd save your money and skip Haitink (lol) and invest in either Sanderling's Dresden set or Levine's Chicago cycle. Now they are outstanding Brahms.


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## chill782002

My favourite living conductor. Saw him with the LSO in London about 20 years ago, a memorable performance.


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## flamencosketches

Merl said:


> BTW, a word of warning. I know that his LSO Brahms cycle is a mixed bag for some and garnered some very polarised reviews but there's something about the sound of it I like. It's unusually broader than Haitink's other Brahms with the BSO and Concertgebouw but I do like it a lot (although the Concertgebouw set is equally enjoyable and can be picked up less expensively on the secondhand market). I'd listen to the LSO cycle first. Some are less enthusiastic than me. If you want a truly stellar Brahms cycle, Flamencosketches, I'd save your money and skip Haitink (lol) and invest in either Sanderling's Dresden set or Levine's Chicago cycle. Now they are outstanding Brahms.


Noted. How do you feel about Solti/Chicago's Brahms? That is the only one I'm familiar with, and I like it to an extent. Brahms' symphonies have never captivated me and I'm not sure if it's something about the recording or if I just need to dig deeper into the music.

I'm not familiar with Sanderling. But I will have to pass on that Levine. I do like him as a conductor, but I'm not sure I feel comfortable supporting him in light of the horrific accusations that have been leveled against him in the past couple years.


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## Merl

flamencosketches said:


> Noted. How do you feel about Solti/Chicago's Brahms? That is the only one I'm familiar with, and I like it to an extent. Brahms' symphonies have never captivated me and I'm not sure if it's something about the recording or if I just need to dig deeper into the music.
> 
> I'm not familiar with Sanderling. But I will have to pass on that Levine. I do like him as a conductor, but I'm not sure I feel comfortable supporting him in light of the horrific accusations that have been leveled against him in the past couple years.


Solti's Brahms cycle is a really good one but i'd personally put Sanderling, Dohnanyi, Wand and Abbado's sets in front of those. You can also pick up Alsop's Brahms single discs very cheaply on Ebay / Amazon as well as many of the the ones above. We're spoiled by good Brahms cycles, tbh. I know what you mean about Levine but I didnt support him financially by buying his set as I got it secondhand from Ebay (it was so cheap I couldnt say no) and it really is something special.

If you want to read what others think of Brahms cycles try the thread below. I also know what you mean about Brahms. I didn't 'get' his music fully, even though I had a few sets when I came to this site but I persevered (concentrate on the 3rd and 4th symphonies, initially, and then work your way backwards). Now I have a ridiculous amount of sets. If you like Beethoven's symphonies you will get Brahms....it just takes a little longer for some. 

Which Brahms symphony cycle to choose


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