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 led the BRSO for over six decadessometimes 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 Rundfunks sound engineers. As a continuation of the Portrait Box released in February 2019, this new edition offers an excellent overview of their interpretations of masterpieces from the Viennese Classical period, the German-Austrian late Romantic period, and the 20th century. It includes outstanding compositions by Beethoven, Bruckner, Dvorák, Mahler, and Shostakovich. The box set includes complete recordings of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (CD 1) from 2019, Bruckners 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. Also featured are Dvoráks Symphony No. 7 from 1981 and his Scherzo Capriccioso (CD 6) from 1981, Mahlers Symphony No. 7 (CD 7) from 2011, and Shostakovich's 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), and Krassimira Stoyanova, Yvonne Naef, Christoph Strehl, and Günter Groissböck (in Bruckner's Te Deum)perform under Haitink's direction with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The CD box set is a must-have for anyone eager to gain an overall impression of the work of conductor Bernard Haitink and his many years of collaboration with the ensembles of the Bayerischer Rundfunk.
