Eduard van Beinum

Eduard van Beinum ( born September 3, 1900 in Arnhem, † April 13, 1959 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch conductor.

Life

Eduard van Beinum began as a violist in the Arnhemse Orkestvereniging, where his father and his brother played bass fiddle. He also played piano and performed both solo and with his brother together. He was first conductor of the Haarlem Symfonieorkest ( 1927-31 ), which he led to a higher standard. In 1929 he received the first invitation of the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, 1931, he moved there to the vacant position of the Second conductors. Van Beinum quickly became revered by the orchestra musicians, because he saw them as a partner and not his own will imposed upon them as chief conductor Willem Mengelberg. The audience was less of van Beinum convinced at this time, since they were an absolute personality like Mengelberg usual and also van Beinum objective readings in relation to Mengelberg found cold and superficial.

Van Beinum received ongoing deals on items other Dutch orchestras chief conductor; as 1937, the Hague Philharmonic Orchestra The Hague, which was considered the second best in the Netherlands after the Concertgebouw Orchestra inquired, van Beinum was not initially averse. However, the musicians and the management of the Concertgebouw Orchestra wanted to keep him unconditionally and made ​​him the second chief conductor alongside Mengelberg. After Mengelberg against Germany because of its friendly attitude during the war in the Netherlands in 1945 a six-year exile was imposed, was the role of the now single chief conductor at van Beinum. In addition, he held the same post in 1948 and 1949 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Even at this time suffered van Beinum heart problems, so that this orchestra was looking for another conductor. During the season 1950/51 he could hardly occur. From 1956 until his death he was also music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Van Beinum died in 1959 during a rehearsal of Brahms 1st Symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of a heart attack. He was buried at his home in the village of Garderen in the Veluwe region. As the successor to the Concertgebouw Orchestra, he had (unofficial) Bernard Haitink provided.

Van Beinum was the opposite of the self-willed and dominant Mengelberg. He respected the orchestra musicians and allowed them many interpretational liberties. His style was very objective, but - also because of its most rapid tempos - but rarely boring. He was of the view that the content of a work more illustrative, if you let the music speak for itself and not capture every nuance. The great virtuosity of the Concertgebouw Orchestra from the long Mengelberg phase he could hold, but also reached an extraordinary beauty of sound and great naturalness and permanent tension of the musical flow.

Van Beinum sound recordings, which are for the most part in mono ( Philips began only in 1957 with stereo recordings ) talked until well into the sixties in the catalog, as long as mono players were widespread. Later it fell into oblivion, as van Beinum not the glory of a historically important conductors such as Toscanini or Furtwängler enjoyed and were re-released in essence only since the Nineties on CD. Among his most important recordings include the symphonies of Johannes Brahms and the last three symphonies of Anton Bruckner for Philips. Even French music ( esp. Berlioz, Debussy and Ravel ), he conducted frequently for sound recordings, as well as many contemporary Dutch composers, including many in world premieres.

Awards

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