Bernard Haitink

This well recorded disc from 1986 offers a typically thoughtful pair of interpretations from Haitink and his orchestra. Those brought up with the emotionally charged Barbirolli disc with the Halle orchestra may well find this to be emotionally anaemic. This is a thoughtful and considered view of this work where the performance is less about London than about being a central European classical symphony of stature. Everything is well controlled, in its place and structured to hit climatic points with precision.

French cellist Maurice Gendron (1920-1990). His origins were poor and he hailed from Nice. At the age of three he took up music, starting with the violin, but his mother then gave him a quarter-sized cello and he was drawn to it immediately. The rest is history. At ten he was introduced to Emanuel Feuermann, and at twelve he was admitted to the Nice Conservatory, winning first prize at fourteen. Then it was on to the Paris Conservatoire to study with Gérard Hekking. Whilst there he supported himself by selling newspapers. When war broke out he was declared unfit for active service due to malnourishment, so he became a member of the resistance.

Maestro Bernard Haitink evokes a triumphant performance from the Berlin Philharmonic with this rendition of Mahler's fourth and seventh symphonies. In addition to Haitnik's mastery over the material, Sylvia McNair's solo vocals add another layer of aural texture to a performance that reveals the genius of Mahler's compositions.

The Mahler 4 has a special connection to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. It was recorded by 4 of its music directors in succession: Mengelberg, Van Beinum, Haitink, and Chailly. They also recorded it with Bernstein and Solti. At the time Haitink made this recording in the 1960's, the strings of the orchestra still possessed the gruff, woodsy sound that was one of the ensemble's notable characteristics. It is highly suitable to Mahler's folk like themes. The performance here is moderate in tempo; the playing never seems rushed. Haitink makes even the dramatic pauses in the work seem intrinsic to the overall structure. Overall, there is a soft ambience to the orchestral sound. Nevertheless, the climax to the slow movement is highly dramatic, and it flows very naturally into the tempo for the finale.

Georges Bizet: Symphony in C major; Jeux d’enfants - Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink;
Camille Saint-Saens: Symphony no. 3 in C minor "Organ" - San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Edo de Waart
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 326 MB | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Full scans | RS links
Publisher: Philips Eloquence

For years Philips has witlessly reissued, over and over, Edo de Waart's not particularly spectacular Rotterdam recording of Saint-Saëns' "Organ" Symphony, letting this superb version, one of the great modern recordings of the piece, languish out of print. If you missed it during its 15 minutes of availability back in 1985, here's your chance to make amends…. Haitink's Bizet Symphony always has been a reference recording, distinguished by its stunning playing (marvelous oboe solo in the second movement) and unfailing elegance of phrasing. Indeed, the approach is quite similar to de Waart's
David Hurwitz