Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Bernard Haitink, RIP
A conductor of few words but much music
Bernard Haitink knew the importance of showing, not telling.
Bernard Haitink had died. He was 92. He was the last of the great mid-20th Century conductors who came to worldwide prominence via the recording industry. Starting in 1961, Haitink was the first conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in his native city of Amsterdam. Haitink held the post until 1988. During that time, he was also the principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Glyndebourne Opera.
From 1987 to 2004, he was the music director of London’s hallowed Royal Opera Covent Garden. He enjoyed a relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic that lasted almost 50 years, and was the principal guest conductor of The Chicago Symphony.
Haitink’s resume goes on and on and on, but it was through his recordings that most of us got to know his work. He primarily recorded for the Philips label, but also recorded for EMI and London. His recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle was produced by EMI but is now under the Warner label.
Video:
Farewell Bernard Haitink
The composer with whom Haitink is most closely associated is Gustav Mahler. When Haitink took over at the Concertgebouw, Philips — which is a Dutch company — already had a contract with the orchestra for a complete set of Mahler Symphonies. Haitink didn’t feel up to the task and suggested that they record one per year over the next 10 years, and that’s what happened. Philips released Mahler’s Symphony 8 and 9 along with Das Lied von der Erde in 1971, concluding the first of Haitink’s Mahler sets.
In the 1990s Philips, Haitink, and Mahler teamed up again, but this time it was with the Berlin Philharmonic. A complete cycle did not ensue, but the recordings were highly anticipated as they were recorded digitally from start to finish. Along with Mahler, Haitink was known for his conducting of Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner.
Haitink was a man of few words. He did not like to give interviews, thinking that the music and the performances spoke for themselves. He was also verbally reticent in his rehearsals. His focus was always on showing as opposed to telling. That is a key distinction.
Anyone can talk about music. Heck, even I could give a competent pep talk to an orchestra during a rehearsal. However, showing it is the key. There is no talking during a concert. The conductor can only show what is needed. Many verbose musicians fail to become great conductors because they lack the ability to show what it is they so freely talk about. Haitink was one of the greats because he could show the orchestra what he wanted.
Haitink’s final concert was in 2019 at the Lucerne Festival. He conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in a performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Bernard Haitink, RIP
A conductor of few words but much music
Bernard Haitink, RIP
A conductor of few words but much music
Bernard Haitink knew the importance of showing, not telling.
Bernard Haitink had died. He was 92. He was the last of the great mid-20th Century conductors who came to worldwide prominence via the recording industry. Starting in 1961, Haitink was the first conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in his native city of Amsterdam. Haitink held the post until 1988. During that time, he was also the principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Glyndebourne Opera.
From 1987 to 2004, he was the music director of London’s hallowed Royal Opera Covent Garden. He enjoyed a relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic that lasted almost 50 years, and was the principal guest conductor of The Chicago Symphony.
Haitink’s resume goes on and on and on, but it was through his recordings that most of us got to know his work. He primarily recorded for the Philips label, but also recorded for EMI and London. His recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle was produced by EMI but is now under the Warner label.
Video:
Farewell Bernard Haitink
The composer with whom Haitink is most closely associated is Gustav Mahler. When Haitink took over at the Concertgebouw, Philips — which is a Dutch company — already had a contract with the orchestra for a complete set of Mahler Symphonies. Haitink didn’t feel up to the task and suggested that they record one per year over the next 10 years, and that’s what happened. Philips released Mahler’s Symphony 8 and 9 along with Das Lied von der Erde in 1971, concluding the first of Haitink’s Mahler sets.
In the 1990s Philips, Haitink, and Mahler teamed up again, but this time it was with the Berlin Philharmonic. A complete cycle did not ensue, but the recordings were highly anticipated as they were recorded digitally from start to finish. Along with Mahler, Haitink was known for his conducting of Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner.
Haitink was a man of few words. He did not like to give interviews, thinking that the music and the performances spoke for themselves. He was also verbally reticent in his rehearsals. His focus was always on showing as opposed to telling. That is a key distinction.
Anyone can talk about music. Heck, even I could give a competent pep talk to an orchestra during a rehearsal. However, showing it is the key. There is no talking during a concert. The conductor can only show what is needed. Many verbose musicians fail to become great conductors because they lack the ability to show what it is they so freely talk about. Haitink was one of the greats because he could show the orchestra what he wanted.
Haitink’s final concert was in 2019 at the Lucerne Festival. He conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in a performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7.
Comments