Preface
From the beginning of my concert-going career in the 1970s almost until his death in 2021, Bernard Haitink was the conductor whom I heard more often than any other, and whom I most admired. His performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler – Wagner too in the opera house – were understated but nevertheless had extraordinary heft. This essay followed performances at the Barbican in 2017 of the 9th symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler. I am also grateful to John Chichester for alerting me to Bruno Walter’s essay on the two composers.