Posthumous | Bernard Haitink: star conductor in spite of himself

The Dutch top conductor Bernard Haitink passed away on Thursday evening at his home in London. He was 92. Haitink was one of the most influential conductors of his generation.

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Haitink was active worldwide, but his name remains most closely associated with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, which he led for more than a quarter of a century. His career began in 1957, when he became principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Four years later, he was appointed chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in his home city of Amsterdam, together with the much older Eugen Jochum. From 1964 he was on his own. Until 2019 he was a regular at home.

However, his relationship with the orchestra ups and downs. In 1988 a conflict escalated over his additional position at the head of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, which he has held since 1984 and where he indulged his passion for opera. He has also conducted many guest conductors, from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Jan Raes, former intendant of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, got to know Haitink in 2008. ‘I know him as an extremely honest musician. For each composition and concert series, he bought a blank score and rehearsed it as if it were something new, no matter how many times he had performed the music. He always had that young, fresh look, he avoided any routine. That’s rare. He gave his musicians a lot of space and confidence, but at the same time he could be very compelling on a number of aspects such as tempo changes and balance. A transparent, cultivated sound was his trademark. He didn’t go for the decibels. He was a timid, doubting, modest man: he saw himself not as a star, but as an inviting mediator. He was also very well-read and erudite, a thinking musician.’

Haitink achieved world fame as a conductor of the romantic repertoire of Bruckner, Mahler and Strauss, and French music – Debussy and Ravel. ‘His late Bruckners are one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. He was very good at that almost endless music, almost unearthly.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFbjDP_qKYY

The young Flemish conductor Martijn Dendievel followed three masterclasses with Haitink in Lucerne. “It was impressive to stand next to him, to see and feel his hand movements, and especially the psychological way he worked with the orchestra: the music came first and if something went wrong, he took the blame and just asked to do it again. He was very respectful of the musicians and the composers. He could transfer that great respect to an orchestra like no other. He also lived to pass on his experience to the youth.’

‘It was inspiring to hear him speak about music, how he used to organize his time and read books to become a better conductor. If you can make the connection between a writer such as Thomas Mann and the composers of that period, then you have a better feel for the world of those composers. If you can convey that to an orchestra, that’s very special.’

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