Nikolaus Harnoncourt has died

[aligreto]

I am just reading that the great Nicholas Harnoncourt has died. We only heard of his retirement recently and unfortunately his death has come all too soon. He leaves behind a wonderful legacy
RIP.

[prémont]

Very sad news. May he RIP.

[Scion7]

Harnoncourt is a name that was huge in the classical music world for decades.

[Bogey]

One of the BEST ever!  His Beethoven Choral Fantasy recording is in my top 3 all time recordings. 

[Florestan]

Very sad news indeed. He was one of the greatest. RIP.

[kishnevi]

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bMEY3EDf7Ac

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bMEY3EDf7Ac

(I will probably never get this embed thing right)

[Florestan]

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bMEY3EDf7Ac

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bMEY3EDf7Ac

(I will probably never get this embed thing right)

https://m.youtube.com/v/bMEY3EDf7Ac

Fixed. Quote my post to see how it´s done. 

[kishnevi]

Thank you!

[Wakefield]

Extremely sad news. One of the best of a superb generation of musicians.

May his soul rest in peace.

As an aside (I know I'm being picky): could be fixed the spelling of his first name in the title of this thread?

[Florestan]

Thank you!

Don´t mention it, I´m just glad to be of some service.

[Gurn Blanston]

Such a sad day for music. Back in November when I started the thread about his retirement, I wondered how long it would be before we got to this point. Question, sadly, answered.

His 9th began my Sunday, with various other contributions lined up for the remains of the day...

Bit of housekeeping, I moved this thread out of the Composers section, and corrected the spelling in all the posts of his first name, which is Nikolaus.

[HIPster]

RIP.

Thank you for introducing me to so much great music.

Now playing the recording that introduced me to your genius ~

[asin]B000000SID[/asin]

This particular reading of the First Brandenburg Concerto was the one that won me over to its unique charms.

RIP

[Mirror Image]

I didn't like a lot of his repertoire, but this doesn't mean much whenever he was such an outstanding musician with a real drive, passion for this music. RIP Maestro Harnoncourt

[Mandryka]

A shock to hear he died so soon after retiring, he is the conductor more than any other recent one who helped me to see what I'm looking for in music.  I recommend enthusiastically his biography by Monika Mertl, the interviews in it helped me understand what he was trying to achieve better than his own publications.

To some extent I believe that he felt inhibited to be himself in performances, not courageous enough to walk the walk -- so much of the Mozart and Haydn are excellent but mainstream recordings. But when he does muster up the courage to play with short speech like articulation and to stagger voices so as to increase dissonances, the result is very special and provocative. Things like his second B minor mass recording and second Christmas Oratorio and the video of Mozart symphonies made for DG with COE, and some Haydn too -- the Paris Symphonies especially. And the second Missa Solemnis. And some of the Schubert. And some of the Bach cantatas (such a shame he never recorded Wiedersteher doch der Sünde.)

Brian posted here something thoughtful about Harnoncourt, and how he's different from Mackerras. He said (I think) that the final Mackerras recordings show a conductor who's found a formula and who is working confidently with it. But the final Harnoncourt recordings show a man who, even at the end of his career, is involved in some bold experimentation.

How better to celebrate the man's life than to make a serious effort to understand the Instrumental Oratorio, and that C minor Mozart with Lang Lang?

[Marc]

As a lover of Bach's music, I feel a bit like an orphan today, now that I realize that both Gustav Leonhardt and Nikolaus Harnoncourt are dead. Because, in my childhood years, as a lover of Bach's music, I was raised by them.

Harnoncourt was great, because there was always something happening when he was 'in command'.

Never a dull moment with Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt!

May he rest in peace.

[knight66]

Harnoncourt's death a fitting occasion to recount his spectacular full name: Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt.

The above is copied from a Tweet that popped into my feed.

The first recording of his that I had was the LP set of the St Matthew Passion, all male with boy sopranos and the most recent was his 2008 Christmas Oratorio. The first was like a bucket of cold water initially, but I grew to appreciate the radical approach. Ever the explorer.

Mike

[Que]

Same for me, premont. Harnoncourt and Leonhardt were primary guides in the world of Bach.

May the count rest in peace. ...

Q

[Bogey]

Same for me, premont. Harnoncourt and Leonhardt were primary guides in the world of Bach.

May the count rest in piece. ...

Q

Indeed.

[Mandryka]

Unverzagt

[Marc]

A fitting image:



Interview 2012:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g4sbz