Art of Bernard Haitink-An 80th Birthday Celebratio [Box set]

At super-budget price this 7-CD box set will be an appealing buy for newcomers to Bernard Haitink. However, he has been around for 50 years (as the product description notes, the Dvorak Seventh included here was Haitink's first recording, made in 1959), so many collectors will already own much of what's here. Before making any decision, it helps to know the contents of these CDs:

Bartók:
Concerto for Orchestra, BB 123, Sz.116

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Beethoven:
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Brahms:
Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Bruckner:
Symphony No. 3 in D minor `Wagner Symphony'

1877 version

Wiener Philharmoniker

Debussy:
La Mer

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Dvorak:
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Liszt:
Festklänge, symphonic poem No. 7, S101

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Mahler:
Symphony No. 1 in D major 'Titan'

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Ravel:
Ma Mère l'Oye

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Schubert:
Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D759 'Unfinished'

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Shostakovich:
Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Smetana:
Má Vlast: Vltava

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Strauss, R:
Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Stravinsky:
Scherzo a la Russe

Berliner Philharmoniker

The Rite of Spring

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Tchaikovsky:
Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Wagner:
Tristan und Isolde: Prelude & Liebestod

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam

Nothing is a new performance, although a few items, like the remake of the Bruckner Third with the Vienna Phil., are long deleted. It's worth nnoting that Haitink's use of the 1877 edition of this work, the second of three that the composer made, sets him apart from most conductors, like Karajan and Wand, who use the later edition of 1889. (If only this performance were more exciting.) As for the general level of the interpretations, Haitink will always seem a tad dull and conventional to some listeners, while others will praise him for his scrupulous musicality and personal modesty. I fall somewhere in between, but even if you pick and choose among Haitink's very large output as I do, Decca has done a good job bringing forward a selection from the most acclaimed of his recordings.

Any duds? To my mind, they could have left the Beethoven Seventh and Schubert 'Unfinished' behind; both are too middle-of-the-road. By the same logic they should have turned to Haitink's early Brahms Third with the Concertgebouw rather than the later, more staid version from Boston. Compared with fiery Russian accounts, particularly from Mravinsky, Haitink's Shostakovich Tenth is a little short on bite and intensity. But we are still talking about premium performances at a price lower than Naxos, so there's not much room for serious complaining.

As this enduring conductor turns 80, you'll already know if Haitink's style appeals to you, and if it does, here's a treaure trove of his leading recordings.

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