This concert will have been a birthday/bank holiday present to myself (and Janie). No chance that Pauline would be joining us for this one! My diary pointedly says “J&I” while Janie’s, equally pointedly, reads, “Ged & Me”.
We had already celebrated birthdays with John & Mandy at their place (Cambridge Road in those days) on the Saturday evening.
Back to the Monday Prom – just two big Germanic pieces:
- Richard Wagner – Tristan and Isolde (Prelude and Liebestod)
- Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 7 in E major
Top orchestra, top conductor, top notch concert.
In fact, we were due to hear Claudio Abbado conduct this concert, but he had to withdraw due to ill health. I was hoping to do for Janie what Jilly had done for me a few years earlier, viz “you’ve got to see Abbado at least once”…but it was not to be.
Tim Ashley in the Guardian was really taken with the concert as done by Haitink:
Article from 31 Aug 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)
Sadly, I never got to see/hear Bernard Haitink, one of the foremost Bernards of our era – up there with Ingham and Bresslaw in the pantheon.