Bernard Haitink, R.I.P.

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?

I listened to Chailly, on Qobuz in Mahler 5, and then played the SACD version of Haitink in the same work, and the Decca recording is definitely more etched, the Haitink kind of soft in comparison (btw, my first encounter with this work was Haitink leading the London Phil on tour, circa 1977).  Interesting that the 2 recording styles match the performing styles of the 2 conductors, as Chailly is harder edged and while BH is no Kubelik or Walter, he is miles away from Boulez, who seems to have influenced Chailly.  I hated hearing Boulez when he conducted Mahler here in Chicago but have come around to appreciating it, and will now investigate Chailly
  I agree about the Haitink Shostakovich 15th, which I had played recently.  Love the crazy toy shop on Acid ending to that work.
  Who was the soprano in the radio broadcast of the 4th?  Same as the recording?

Cut my teeth on the Solti cycle with Decca, recorded between 1964 and 1971.  I wonder how Decca of that vintage compares with Philips.

Agreed, the Shostakovich no.15 stands as one of Haitink's best performances as well as well as best orchestral recordings of all time.

Back to the Concertgebouw, I agree with the observation that the Ashkenazy recordings sound more spacious than most others made there at the time. Perhaps they did away with that midhall curtain. Another great example of the wide open hall sound is Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances from the same period. But actually Decca gave Ashkenazy a somewhat similar sound for his Sibelius cycle with the Philharmonia Orchestra London, recorded in Kingsway Hall. And later also for his Shostakovich symphonies with the RPO, no.4 being a great example. So this wide hall perspective may well have been Ashkenazy's preference. Somewhat underrated as a conductor, these recordings are highly recommended!

As for recorded sound in the 60's and early 70's, there is simply no comparison between Decca and Philips. Snob appeal notwithstanding, there's a 'sound' reason audiophile record collectors are willing to pay a premium for Decca UK pressings.