Bernard Haitink dies aged 92

Conductor Bernard Haitink has died aged 92. His illustrious career encompassed many achievements including a 27 year period as chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, earning the roles of music director of the Royal Opera, London and of Glyndebourne Festival Opera as well as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and receiving Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award 2015.

Haitink was born on March 4, 1929 in Amsterdam and went on to study violin and conducting at the city’s Conservatory. He made his conducting debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in 1954 and first conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra the following year. In 1959, at the age of 30, he was named First Conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra then, in 1963, became the Orchestra’s sole Musical Director. For the next 25 years he would develop one of those celebrated conductor-orchestra relationships, enshrined on disc largely by Philips.

Haitink’s recording that included Debussy’s Jeux and Nocturnes brought him two Gramophone Awards – Orchestral and Engineering – in 1980 and he proved a superb concerto partner, conducting the Beethoven piano concertos for Claudio Arrau, Murray Perahia (Gramophone Concerto Award winner 1986 for Nos 3 and 4) and András Schiff (with the Staatskapelle Dresden). In a Gramophone article by Schiff on Haitink’s receipt of Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, Schiff describes him as ‘a medium between the composer and the players and the listeners’ and ‘a magnificent teacher.’

As Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic from 1967 to ’79, he proved himself a fine advocate of British composers including Elgar, Walton and Vaughan Williams. The late 1970s saw his first major engagement with opera: first at Glyndebourne (1978-88) and then, after Amsterdam, at the ROH (1987-2002). His 1983 Don Giovanni, with Thomas Allen in the title-role and based on performances at Glyndebourne, took the 1985 Gramophone Opera Award.

After taking on the two major positions of chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden (2002-4) and principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony (2006-10) he developed close relationships with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. In a 2019 Gramophone article by David Gutman Haitink maintains that, despite his senior roles ‘it’s very important that the musicians trust you, that they know, when the hour comes, you will stand [up] for them.’ Receiving honorary membership of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra 2019, he announced his retirement after 65 years at the podium. He died peacefully at home on October 21, surrounded by his wife and family.

You can read the extended version of this article (including the 2 additional articles referenced here) at gramophone.co.uk.