Bernard Haitink, R.I.P.

It is interesting to me that in the early vinyl days the Philips Haitink Concertgebouw recordings were often considered dull.  But as analog equipment became more sophisticated (somewhat after the analog golden age) they started sounding better and better.  So too when digital developed enough to do these recordings justice.  As the NY Times obit headlined, he was the, "Conductor Who Let Music Speak for Itself."  And so our appreciation of what he accomplished grew.  RIP.

Some of the best, and best sounding, Shostakovich by Haitink was recorded by the London Philharmonic. I am thinking specifically of Symphony 15 which is a demo quality recording.

The Ashkenazy Rachmaninov First symphony at the Concertgebouw is another astonishing recording. If the beginning of the Fourth movement doesn’t make you think that your walls have disappeared you may need an upgrade. And yet it’s early digital (1982) and just 16/44. Amazing!

I recall reading that the Concertgebouw is so lively that for recording in the empty hall a curtain was drawn across the middle of the hall seating. A recording like the Ashkenazy is so different from most others that I wonder how the hall was handled in that session.

So many orchestral recordings are being made "live" these days that I think we'll not get the true hall sound so much anymore.  "Live" means lots of very close microphones so that audience noises are minimized.  Strange that recordings of actual concerts are called "live" as though studio recordings that actually sound better are what?  Dead?