Tensions assuaged, the 86-year-old Honorary Conductor will make his return during the 2016/2017 season.

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has apologised to its former Chief Conductor, healing a rift that has existed for the last couple of years. Announcing the return of its Honorary Conductor, the RCO admitted that “strains in the relationship between the management of the RCO and [Haitink]” had led to the conductor’s absence during the past 18 months.

Speaking to Dutch newspaper Het Parool last March, the then 85-year-old maestro said he felt “totally ignored” by the RCO’s management team after allegedly being snubbed and omitted from the Concertgebouw’s 125th anniversary celebrations. Claiming that CEO Jan Raes and Artistic Director Joel Fried lacked “interest in the tradition”, an “almost humiliated” Haitink went on, unsuccessfully, to request his Honorary Conductorship be returned.

A statement released by the RCO yesterday acknowledged the situation, offering an effusive apology to the conductor for any upset. “The management accepts that feelings have been hurt unnecessarily, for which we would like to extend our sincere apologies.”

The release goes on to announce that Haitink himself has decided to return to the Concertgebouw to conduct during their 2016/2017 season, a year which will...