Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 4 (Bernard Haitink)

Information

Composer: Gustav Mahler

• Symphony No. 4

Juliane Banse, soprano

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Bernard Haitink, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: BR-Klassik

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BR-KLASSIK has released a previously unreleased live recording of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, capturing a November 2005 performance by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Bernard Haitink. This release honors the conductor's six-decade collaboration with the orchestra, which concluded upon his death in 2021. Celebrated for his structural transparency and sonic sensitivity, Haitink masterfully navigates Mahler’s 1899–1901 score. The symphony culminates in the final movement with the Des Knaben Wunderhorn poem "Das himmlische Leben," which utilizes a child's perspective of paradise to construct a utopian counter-concept to the realities of the modern world.

Bernard Haitink (1929–2021) was a legendary Dutch conductor and violinist celebrated as one of the definitive post-war interpreters of the symphonic and operatic repertoires. Over a prolific career spanning more than six decades, he served as the principal conductor of the world's most prestigious ensembles, most notably leading the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for 27 years. He also held music directorships at the London Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Revered for his structural fidelity and rejection of musical politics, Haitink left an immense legacy of over 450 acclaimed recordings before retiring in 2019.

High Resolution 24-bit / 48 kHz