wed 12/02/2025

Haitink, Chicago SO, Royal Festival Hall | reviews, news & interviews

Haitink, Chicago SO, Royal Festival Hall

Haitink, Chicago SO, Royal Festival Hall

Bernard Haitink fails to inspire with unsmiling Haydn and portentous Bruckner

Bernard Haitink: a safe pair of hands
The Bruckner half of the programme appeared to have come early as Bernard Haitink and the Chicago Symphony sternly, doggedly, processed through the introduction of Haydn’s Symphony No.101 ‘Clock’. It was a portent of things to come. The prognosis was not good. A case of terminal seriousness would eventually render the performance irreversibly moribund.

The Bruckner half of the programme appeared to have come early as Bernard Haitink and the Chicago Symphony sternly, doggedly, processed through the introduction of Haydn’s Symphony No.101 ‘Clock’. It was a portent of things to come. The prognosis was not good. A case of terminal seriousness would eventually render the performance irreversibly moribund.

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