Does anyone outside of the Benelux countries remember the Haitink/ Concertgebouw/Bruckner cycle? With competition from the more glamorous Karajan/Berlin cycle and the more muscular Solti/Chicago cycle, not to mention the more spiritual Jochum/Bavarian/Berlin cycle, the more straightforward Haitink/Concertgebouw cycle probably doesn't stick in the memories of most international listeners. And yet there are many good reasons to prefer the Haitink/Concertgebouw cycle. For one thing, there's Haitink. A consummate professional with less ego and arguably more integrity than Karajan and more sincerity than Solti, Haitink was more than willing to let Bruckner's symphonies unfold in their own good time. For another thing, there's the Concertgebouw. A virtuoso ensemble with as much polish as the Berlin and less aggression than the Chicago, the Concertgebouw was more than willing to efface its virtuosity and lets Bruckner's symphonies reveal themselves. And finally, there's the music. While Karajan and Solti may have been wonderfully appropriate for most of the Central European repertoire, to perform Bruckner as if he were a combination of Beethoven and Wagner is to misunderstand him. Bruckner was utterly unique -- a medieval mystic and a Baroque contrapuntist stuck in a nineteenth century harmonic body -- and Haitink, like Jochum, understands this. So while the Jochum cycle, with its immense spirituality, remains the preferred Bruckner cycle, listeners looking for a second cycle would do well to pick up the Haitink and leave the Karajan and Solti cycles on the shelf. Philips' mid-'60s through early-'70s sound is rich, warm, deep, and fully competitive with the best contemporary sound.
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