Bernard Haitink

Bernard Haitink conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in this extraordinary performance of Mahler's third symphony. Mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar's heartbreaking accompaniment adds to the sumptuousness of this remarkable concert event. The camera movements are as sensitive to the rhythms as the performers, making this a visual and aural treat.

This is a recording for the ages and one that deserves all of the attention focused on it by very competent engineers. Highly recommended.

Luchino Visconti's famous Covent Garden production (originally from 1958, here revived in 1985) is now available on DVD–the sets are stark, the costumes sumptuous. Luis Lima is the most dramatic and moving Don Carlo on DVD; Ileana Cotrubas is a small scale but touching Elisabetta–tears well up in both their eyes in their final duet. The rest of the cast is fine, especially Zancanaro (Rodrigo) and Lloyd (Philip II). Picture quality is uneven, sound excellent. Haitink is a delicate but effective conductor of the full (3 1/2 hour) score. In general, the most powerful performance available of this most grand of Verdi operas.

By C. Harbison (Montague, MA United States)

Beethoven wrote ten sonatas for piano and violin, the best known of which are the "Spring" and the "Kreutzer" sonatas. The fame of these two works has tended to result in neglect of the remaining sonatas. This is unfortunate because Beethoven's remaining eight sonatas for piano and violin include much great music. The set of 10 works is of an appropriate size to warrant exploration of the entire group for those with a passion for the violin or for Beethoven. It includes an appealing mix of familiar and unfamiliar music.

Beethoven wrote ten sonatas for piano and violin, the best known of which are the "Spring" and the "Kreutzer" sonatas. The fame of these two works has tended to result in neglect of the remaining sonatas. This is unfortunate because Beethoven's remaining eight sonatas for piano and violin include much great music. The set of 10 works is of an appropriate size to warrant exploration of the entire group for those with a passion for the violin or for Beethoven. It includes an appealing mix of familiar and unfamiliar music.

This Haitink/Beaux Arts/LPO Triple Concerto is superb and also unique in my experience. The acoustic captures the BA Trio so closely that one can hear their playing in minute detail. At the same time, the orchestral playing is equally detailed and attractively unbloated. The BA plays the concerto from a chamber music perspective more than a triple superstar perspective. Nothing drags and the bouyancy helps. Pressler and Greenhouse are especially eloquent. Both play with beautiful tone.

Haitink's Mahler interpretations offer a combination of objectivity and distance, emotional reflection and release, continuity and tradition. Under Haitink, the Concertgebouw secured its reputation as one of the world's great Mahler orchestras and their cycle of the composer's symphonies and orchestral songs stands as witness to the orchestra's feeling for its deep history and to the enduring artistry of its conductor.

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 in C minor Op. 65 –
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Bernard Haitink, conductor
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 294 MB, 3% recovery| FLAC+LOG+Cue | Scans
Publisher: DECCA | Recorded: 1983| Published: Not indicated

This recording of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 8 with the Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the best perfromances on CD.