Bernard Haitink, R.I.P.

Yes, arguably the greatest conductor this  country has ever had. I grew up with his performances of the Mahler symphonies on the annual Christmas Matinee in the 1970's, broadcast live on national television. Treasured memories for sure.

Some people may not be aware that the typical Philips orchestral sound in the 70's was as much the result of their own  engineering priorities as of the unique characteristics of the Concertgebouw. That space has a miraculous capacity to sound glowingly warm, while at the same time illuminating every little sonic detail. Philips recordings tended to emphasize the hall's warmth, often at the expense of detail. Decca recordings with Haitink's successor Chailly from the 1980's had a different approach, less of the warmth and more of the 'pin drop' detail retrieval. The industry's switch to digital recording that happened around that time may have played a part in that as well. The Concertgebouw was perhaps one of the very few concert halls in the world that actually benefited early digital technology.

By the end of the analogue era Philips finally did nail it with the recording of the orchestral works of Debussy, partly made just prior to Haitink's departure as chief conductor. While 1977's La Mer is still overly lush and soft, 1980's Jeux and Nocturnes have that warm glow AND illuminate every musical detail, no matter how small. The difference is overwhelming. While Haitink is not generally associated with French music, to me this represents his finest hour as a conductor.

I played the whole set again today in his memory and can most 'warmly' recommend it to any music lover.

Thanks edgewear, those are illuminating comments about Phillips and the Concert Hall.  It makes me want to investigate the Chailly Decca recordings, of which I think the only one in my collection is Mahler 3 on SACD.  I always thought that recording was overly clinical.  How do you feel about the Maris Jansons recorded legacy?
  I’ve only been to Amsterdam once, and frustratingly for me it was a few weeks before the Concert season started.  I did take a tour of the Hall.  I have heard the Orchestra on tour once, many years ago, but was bitterly disappointed to have missed them last year due to Covid 

I might have already mentioned this on this website, but it was a radio broadcast of the Philips/Haitink/Concertgebouw performance of Mahler's Fourth that made me a fan of Mahler, Haitink, Philips and the Concertgebouw in one fell swoop.  It was the 1970's. I turned on the tuner and couldn't stop listening until the piece ended and the deejay told me the particulars.  And oh yeah, the broadcast made me a fan of classical vocal music, as well.

Chailly is an interesting conductor for his choice of repertoire. His style was very different from Haitink and more modernist, sometimes considered as clinical not unlike Boulez conducting style. This shows in their way with Mahler, which I don’t particularly enjoy.

Perhaps the best Decca recordings from the CGO in the early 80’s involved Russian music, like the Rachmaninov symphonies under Ashkenazy and several Shostakovich symphonies under Haitink himself.

To get the overwhelming sensation of being in that very hall while in your own living room, try the Rachmaninov no.1.....

Don't know much about Jansons. By the time he took over, I was fully engaged with collecting vinyl records from the 50's and 60's.

Some of the best, and best sounding, Shostakovich by Haitink was recorded by the London Philharmonic. I am thinking specifically of Symphony 15 which is a demo quality recording.

The Ashkenazy Rachmaninov First symphony at the Concertgebouw is another astonishing recording. If the beginning of the Fourth movement doesn’t make you think that your walls have disappeared you may need an upgrade. And yet it’s early digital (1982) and just 16/44. Amazing!

I recall reading that the Concertgebouw is so lively that for recording in the empty hall a curtain was drawn across the middle of the hall seating. A recording like the Ashkenazy is so different from most others that I wonder how the hall was handled in that session.

So many orchestral recordings are being made "live" these days that I think we'll not get the true hall sound so much anymore.  "Live" means lots of very close microphones so that audience noises are minimized.  Strange that recordings of actual concerts are called "live" as though studio recordings that actually sound better are what?  Dead?