TV Standard: NTSC
Color: Colour

Credits:

Max Richter

Description:

Haitink's Last Salzburg Festival 2019Maestro conductor Bernard Haitink retired at the age of 90.In March 2019, Haitink celebrated his 90th birthday and announced his retirement from active conducting in June of the same year, with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, the Proms in London, and finally the Lucerne Festival. He retired from conducting in June of the same year. Haitink, who is known as a leading interpreter of Bruckner, chose Bruckner Symphony No. 7 as the last work of his conducting career. It was the same program when he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic just before announcing his retirement (this concert was released on direct-cut LP). This video shows his last concert at the Salzburg Festival on August 31, 2019. Haitink explains why he chose Bruckner: "I heard his symphonies for the first time when I was eight years old, and Bruckner is a composer who has shaped my life. He was always there." He stated, "He was always there. The Seventh Symphony is another work that Haitink has featured many times in concert and on recordings.The performance was a naturalistic masterpiece that maximized Haitink's sincere attitude toward music, the beauty of the Vienna Philharmonic's tone (concertmaster was Volkhard Steide), and the beauty of Bruckner's music itself, all while wearing the full weight of the last Salzburg Festival. The concert was a masterful performance. The concert opened with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with Emanuel Ax as soloist. Haitink was born in Amsterdam on March 4, 1929. He studied conducting under Ferdinand Leitner and became principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957, and served as principal conductor of the Concertgebouw from 1961 to 1988. He has also served as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Royal Opera House, and as principal guest conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and has given many distinguished performances over a period of more than 60 years. King International