Haitink

Bernard Haitink (Bernard Haitink, 1929-..) If anyone wants to choose the "Emperor" of contemporary Dutch conductors, then this crown is probably none other than Haitink. . This all-powerful figure is the famous conductor with the highest prestige and greatest achievements in the contemporary Dutch music industry. In terms of worldwide influence, he is another Dutch international conductor with extensive authority after Mengelberg and Bainim. In today's world, he is a new generation of world masters as famous as Previn, Abbado, Seiji Ozawa and others, and together with them he has become a backbone figure in the world's conducting art in the mid-to-late 20th century.

Chinese name: Haitink

Foreign name: BernardHaitink

Nationality: Netherlands

Birthplace: Amsterdam

Date of birth: March 4, 1929

Occupation: Conductor

Graduation school: Amsterdam Conservatoire

Main achievements: 1969 by the Queen of the Netherlands Knighted

In 1977, he was awarded an honorary knighthood of the British Empire

In 1991, he won the Dutch Erasmus Prize

Representative work: "Nibelung" "The Ring of Roots" and "Falstaff"

Idols: Furtw?ngler, Kripps, Bainim

Character Experience

Although the Netherlands is a small country, its music culture is very developed. Haitink can almost be regarded as a symbol of the Netherlands in the music industry.

On March 4, 1929, Haitink was born into a wealthy family in Amsterdam.

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In 1955, he was hired as the deputy conductor of the Netherlands United Radio Orchestra.

In 1956, he was hired as the chief conductor of the Hilversum Radio Orchestra of the Netherlands. Since then, Haitink has had smooth sailing and has been on the rise. , began his brilliant conducting career.

In 1961, Haitink became the youngest chief conductor in the history of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra ACO.

In 1964, he became the music director and music director of the ACO. Chief conductor, which means that he has taken the top spot in a world-class orchestra. At this time, he was only 35 years old.

During his tenure at the ACO, Haitink also served as the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967 to 1979. Chief conductor of the orchestra.

In 1977, Haitink took over as the music director of the Glyndebourne Opera House in the United Kingdom. In 1982, Haitink conducted his first performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York

The 1985-1986 season was Haitink's busiest year. He successively conducted performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and conducted the performance of Richard at the Royal Opera House in London. ·Strauss's opera "Arabella".

In the summer of 1992, he led ROH to tour Japan to perform Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and "The Marriage of Figaro". 1992- In the 1993 season, he performed at ROH in repertoire including Richard Strauss's "Woman Without Shadow", Janacek's "The Cunning Little Fox" and Mozart's "Don Giovanni".

< p>Important performances of Haitink in the 1993-1994 season include performing Wagner's "Meistersinger of Nuremberg" at the ROH and Janacek's "Katya Kabanova" (Katya Kabanova); conducting the BSO's performance of Schubert's "Katya Kabanova" in Boston. Symphony No. 8", etc.

Boyhood

Bernard Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, in 1929. He began studying violin when he was about 10 years old and graduated from high school. After that, he was admitted to the Amsterdam Conservatoire. During his schooling, he studied violin as his major subject. However, Haitink, who loved the art of conducting, used his other time to take all conducting courses concurrently. After Haitink graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music, he joined the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra as a violinist. At this time, Haitink seized every opportunity to enrich his practical knowledge and abilities in the orchestra. At the same time, he also made further efforts to study and Studying conducting methods laid a good foundation for his future superb conducting art.

As a conductor

It was probably in the mid-1950s that Haitink officially turned to conducting. From 1954 to 1955, Haitink participated in two consecutive sessions organized by the Dutch Associated Broadcasters Association. In the summer international conducting law workshop, due to his outstanding academic performance, he was hired as the deputy conductor of the Netherlands United Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1955. In 1956, Haitink temporarily replaced the conductor Giulini who was unable to perform due to illness at an important concert, and directed the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra to successfully perform Cherubini's "Requiem". This extraordinary performance This genius act immediately won him widespread praise and a resounding reputation. From then on, this young conductor, who was only 27 years old, attracted people's great attention. In the same year, he took the position of chief conductor of the Silverous Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Glorious career

In 1961, the 32-year-old Haitink took over the position of chief conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra from the great conductor Bainim, becoming the most famous conductor in the Netherlands. The fourth music director and permanent conductor of the famous symphony orchestra. From 1967 to 1979, he also served as chief conductor and artistic advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for 12 years. In 1988, Haitink left the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, where he had worked for 27 years, and came to the famous Royal Covent Garden Opera House as music director and permanent conductor. At the same time, he also performed extensively in Europe, Guest conductor in symphony orchestras and opera houses in America and around the world. These include the Grindenburg Opera House, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Symphony Orchestra and many other world-class performance groups.

Honors received

For more than 40 years, Haitink has been dedicated and highly respected, and has a high prestige in the world music scene. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to music culture, governments of various countries He was awarded many medals and titles, such as being knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands in 1969, an honorary knighthood of the British Empire in 1977, an honorary doctorate in music from Oxford University in 1988, and the Dutch Erasmus Prize in 1991. .

Famous repertoire

Haitink’s career as a conductor began by conducting symphonies. He made a lot of achievements in this field when he served as the conductor of several important symphony orchestras in his early years. When he entered his later years, his conducting interests gradually turned to opera. During his tenure as music director and permanent conductor of the Royal Covent Garden Opera House, he conducted many long-lasting performances. In addition, he also recorded Verdi's "Falstaff" with the Grindenburg Opera in June 1983, and Wagner's "The Nibelung" with the Munich Opera in December of the same year. Ring of Roots", as well as countless opera works performed and recorded in other opera houses.

Character evaluation

Haitink is a conductor with high prestige in today's world, and he himself is a man with a spirit of hard work and perseverance. artist. He himself once said that he had experienced a lot of difficulties and bitterness in art, but every difficulty was overcome by his tenacious spirit and amazing ability, and this determination to overcome difficulties made him even more He confidently grasped the baton in his hand. Anyone familiar with Haitink's character knows that this outstanding conductor is a person who is confident in himself. He said that he believes in his own genius and ability, and this ability is not only reflected in his hands, but more importantly, On the whole body and mind, he once said this: "Music is in my heart, and I am eager to express it. It is this belief that guided me to the top step by step."

Haitink is A "all-round" conductor, he has the ability to master operas and symphonies equally, but he started with symphonies. According to his own words, that is because he has mastered everything from the beginning. Owning a famous symphony orchestra should be the luckiest thing for him. Therefore, he mastered the orchestra surprisingly quickly. By conducting the symphony, he developed solid basic skills in professional skills. All these useful preparations and The foreshadowing laid a good foundation for his subsequent outstanding performance in conducting operas.

Like Monte, Ormandy, Martinon and Maazel, Haitink is also a master conductor who was born as a violinist, so his conducting characteristics are also very focused on the connotation of string music. Delicate style, this style is very necessary to master the balance between the band and the natural flow of the music lines. Haitink's conducting often gives people a sense of stability and generosity. His ability to control speed is very precise, and his command of music can often show a strong sense of dynamic joy and exciting emotions. He is a very artistic and creative conductor with a rich imagination for music, and more importantly, the music he performs is the music closest to his soul. This rare state is It was the artistic goal he pursued throughout his life.

Haitink is an extremely humble artist. He has always used positive methods to overcome his own weaknesses. He once joked that he has a "radar" for detecting problems. This "Radar" can remind him to make fewer mistakes at any time. In fact, this "radar" is a kind of humble alertness and a lofty spirit of continuous improvement. It is this alertness and lofty spirit that makes him excel in art. Continuously achieve one success after another.

Haitink’s humility is also reflected in his respect and admiration for the older generation of conductors. In his mind, Mengelberg, Furtw?ngler, Cripps, Bainim and Karajan were his most revered idols, and the person who had the deepest influence on him and was the most unforgettable was his predecessor, the old Dutch conductor Bainim. He believed that Bainim He is the most humble conductor. His cultivation, his skills and his beliefs have deeply influenced Haitink as his successor. Haitink accepted the position before resigning as the permanent conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. A Dutch reporter said this during an interview: "Bainim is a unique conductor, and he occupies a very important position in my memory." Indeed, Bainim's persuasive attitude towards the band members and meticulous conducting personality were silently absorbed by Haitink, and gradually became the main aspects of Haitink's own style.

Like some great predecessors, Haitink is also an artist with noble moral character and tenacious personality. In his mind, music and art, which symbolizes the best spirit of mankind, always occupy a dominant position. , he loves life and music so much, and is determined to bring beautiful happiness and enjoyment to mankind with the music and art he engages in. As an upright and kind-hearted artist, he was deeply worried about the Dutch and British governments at that time's neglect of cultural undertakings, and denounced these people's actions as short-sighted and stupid behavior, because he knew deeply that as a human being in a modern civilized society, It is impossible to live without music, the most emotional art form. For example, due to economic pressure, the Dutch government wanted to change the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, which had more than 100 people, into a chamber orchestra with only 20 or 30 people. This extremely wrong move was immediately criticized by the world's famous music Haitink, who was the permanent commander of the regiment at that time, was even more indignant. He was furious and resigned angrily, effectively fighting back those who made wrong decisions, so that these people had to stand in front of his high prestige. He changed his decision under pressure. In this way, Haitink, with his firm attitude and strong sense of responsibility, finally preserved the existence of this outstanding orchestra with a century-old tradition.

Haitink is an extremely diligent conductor. During his decades of conducting career, he frequently traveled to music stages around the world and never felt bored or exhausted. He has a very wide range of conducting repertoire, basically ranging from classical works to modernist works, and it involves a large number of works by composers of different nationalities and different styles, but relatively speaking, he is more important to Mahler. The works of , Bruckner, Verdi, Wagner, Brahms, Stravinsky and Shostakovich have more extraordinary interpretations.

Haitink is also a famous recording artist. For decades, he has conducted the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Covent Garden Opera House. Orchestra and opera house, he has recorded countless records for major record companies around the world. In concerto recordings, he has often successfully collaborated with world-class performance masters such as Rubinstein, Ashkenazy and Perlman. .

Haitink is an international conductor who is full of honors. He has done his best to gain a status for the Dutch music industry in the world. At the same time, he has also made immortal contributions to promoting the development of the world's music industry. In recognition of his achievements, the Netherlands The Queen knighted him in 1969, which can be said to be the highest honor he achieved while engaged in music and art activities. In fact, the highest honor is probably not for this. For decades, he has played a leading role in music hobbies around the world. The lofty image established in the hearts of readers and the widespread respect he has won should be the highest honor he can receive.

Haitink regards every live performance as an adventure. During the adventure in Beijing in 2009, he and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra did not choose any overtures as foreshadowing, and directly performed three large symphonies— — Mahler’s “Sixth Symphony” on the 13th, Bruckner’s “Seventh Symphony” and Haydn’s “Symphony No. 101” on the 14th. Haitink himself believed that Mahler's Sixth Symphony, which was "more difficult than mountain climbing," was a "touchstone" to verify the strength of him and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was completed in 80 minutes in one go. Everyone was looking forward to this thrilling adventure, so much so that Tickets for the first show were sold out early, and in order to allow more viewers to enjoy this legend, the organizers had to put stools in the aisles.

On the night of the performance on February 13, 2009, the figures of several Chinese performers in the orchestra particularly attracted the attention of the audience. The Chinese performer Chen Murong, who was sitting in the first position, and the viola player who was sitting opposite him 10 performers including Deputy Chief Zhang Liguo took the lead in becoming the focus of Haitink before taking the stage.