Back in 2021, when I first wrote about this symphony, I didn’t like the performance. This time is much better. Well recorded and also performed. Not high on the popular vote of performances though, according to my streaming service. Haitink recorded the symphonies later with the London Symphony Orchestra. I have that one on CD, but for me it is a bit too clean. I like this one better, this orchestra just has more color.
Conductor Bernard Haitink was born in 1921 in an Amsterdam upper middle class family. He played violin first, but conducted soon after. His talent for the latter was quickly picked up when he conducted the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in 1954 (back then called the Nederlandse Radio Unie NRU). Just two years later he found himself in front of the Concertgebouworchestra, substituting Giulini. From 1963 he was appointed chief conductor, and he stayed in that position until 1988. During that time he made numerous recordings for Philips (like this one).
It was after 1988 that his star was really rising. He has recorded for seven different orchestras across the world, the likes of the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic. His relationship with his old orchestra was strained after 1988. Many times he clashed with the business side of the organisation, the last time in 2014. His last concert was in 2019, after which he retired. He died in 2019, in London.