Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks - BRSO

Bernhard Haitink – Portrait Vol. II

BR-KLASSIK 900720 © Astrid Ackermann

The edition offers impressive live recordings from the years 1981 to 2019 with Chor & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of its long-standing guest conductor Bernard Haitink.

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BERNARD HAITINK – PORTRAIT VOL. II

BEETHOVEN | BRUCKNER | DVORÁK | MAHLER | SHOSTAKOVICH 

BR-KLASSIK is dedicating a second portrait edition to the eminent Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink, containing a total of 9 CDs. Bernard Haitink died in October 2021, he would have turned 95 in March 2024. These exceptional live recordings document the long-standing and intensive collaboration between Bernard Haitink, the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the BRSO. Since Haitink conducted a subscription concert for the first time in 1958, he repeatedly conducted the BRSO for over six decades – sometimes in the Herkulessaal of the Residenz, sometimes in the Philharmonie im Gasteig. The orchestras’ musicians and singers were just as happy to work with him as the Bayerischer Rundfunk’s sound engineers. As a continuation of the Portrait Box released in February 2019, this new edition offers an excellent overview of the joint interpretations of masterpieces from the Viennese Classical period as well as the German-Austrian late Romantic period and the 20th century: outstanding compositions by Beethoven, Bruckner, Dvořák, Mahler and Shostakovich.

The box includes complete recordings of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (CD 1) – a recording from 2019 –, Bruckner’s Symphonies No. 4 (CD 2) from 2012, No. 7 (CD 3) from 1981 and No. 8 (CD 4 / CD 5) from 1993 as well as his Te Deum (CD 4) from 2010, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 from 1981 and his Scherzo Capriccioso (CD 6) from 1981, Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 (CD 7) from 2011 as well as from Shostakowitsch the Symphonies No. 8 (CD 8) from 2006 and No. 15 (CD 9) from 2015.

Numerous famous vocal soloists – including Sally Matthews, Gerhild Romberger, Gerald Finley and Mark Padmore (in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9) or Krassimira Stoyanova, Yvonne Naef, Christoph Strehl and Günter Groissböck (in Bruckner’s Te Deum) perform under Haitink’s direction together with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The CD box set is a must for anyone eager to gain an overall impression of the work of the conductor Bernard Haitink and also of his many years of collaboration with the ensembles of the Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Gerald Finley, Günther Groissböck, Sally Matthews, Yvonne Naef, Mark Padmore, Gerhild Romberger, Krassimira Stoyanova, Christoph Strehl

Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Bernard Haitink conductor

BR-KLASSIK 9CD 900720

Ludwig van Beethoven
CD 1: Symphony No. 9

Anton Bruckner
CD 2: Symphony No. 4
CD 3: Symphony No. 7
CD 4: Te Deum / Symphony No. 8, first and second movement
CD 5: Symphonies Nos. 8, third and fourth movement

Antonin Dvořák
CD 6: Symphony No. 7 / Scherzo Capriccioso

Gustav Mahler
CD 7: Symphony No. 7

Dmitri Shostakovich
CD 8: Symphony No. 8
CD 9: Symphony No. 15

  • Representative examples of Bernard Haitink’s long-standing collaboration with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
  • Recordings of Munich concerts given between 1981 and 2019 in the Herkulessaal der Residenz and the Philharmonie im Gasteig
  • Complete recordings of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 4, 7 and 8 as well as his Te Deum, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and his Scherzo capriccioso, Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 and the Symphonies Nos. 8 and 15 from Shostakowitch
  • The Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink perform together with numerous famous vocal soloists
Bernard Haitink © Todd Rosenberg