Bernard Haitink

Bernard Haitink was born in 1929 and trained in Amsterdam, joining the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic as a violinist. His conducting career began in 1954 at the Netherlands Radio with Ferdinand Leitner, where he took part in their intensive conductors' courses, and where in 1957 he became the Chief Conductor of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He went on to become Chief Conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra for 27 years. He was also Patron of the Radio Philharmonic, and Honorary Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He also held positions as Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He was an honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and in 2019 was made an honorary member of the Wiener Philharmoniker. Best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven and Liszt, his conducting continued the tradition of Willem Mengelberg and was noted for its careful attention to detail. Combining an uncommon strength of character and conviction, he recorded complete cycles of Mahler, Bruckner, Brahms and Schumann symphonies with the Concertgebouw and extensive repertoire with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His discography also includes many opera recordings with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and Dresden Staatskapelle, as well as with Glyndebourne and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, with whom he received a Grammy Award for their recording of Janácek's Jenůfa. As one of the most celebrated conductors of his generation, Haitink received many awards and honours in recognition of his services to music, including Musical America's Musician of the Year and the Gramophone Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been made a Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and an honorary Companion of Honour in the UK, and received honorary doctorates from the University of Oxford and the Royal College of Music. Following a 65-year conducting career, Haitink passed away in 2021 at the age of 92, leaving behind a legacy of unrivalled interpretations of the great symphonic and operatic masterpieces, remembered as a legendary musician who made over 450 recordings and as a passionate mentor for future generations of conductors, generously offering his time to teaching and masterclasses.