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Claudio Abbado

 

(born June 26, 1933, Milan, Italy) Italian conductor. Abbado studied piano, composition, and conducting at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory before beginning to conduct in Vienna. He was long associated with Milan's La Scala (1968 – 86), as principal conductor and ultimately as artistic director, as well as with the Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1989 he succeeded Herbert von Karajan as permanent conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic. He is known for his commitment to adventurous programming, including much modern music.

For more information on Claudio Abbado, visit Britannica.com.

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Music Encyclopedia: Claudio Abbado
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(b Milan, 26 June 1933). Italian conductor. He studied under his father, at Milan and in Vienna, won several competitions and appeared widely in Italy. He conducted the Vienna PO at Salzburg in 1965, and made his New York and London débuts in the 1960s. He has worked at La Scala (1968, musical director, 1972-86), was principal guest conductor of the Chicago SO (1982-5), principal conductor (1979) and music director of the LSO (1983-8), the Vienna Staatsoper (from 1986), and the Berlin PO (from 1989). Besides the Romantic repertory and especially Verdi, he is noted for his vivid conducting of 20th-century music.



Biography: Claudio Abbado
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Italian-born conductor Claudio Abbado (born 1933) established a reputation for musical excellence on the fine edge between scholar and performing genius. A meticulous reader of scores, he mastered symphonic detail to such a degree that his conducting has often overshadowed the lead singers. Devoted to artistry, he has ventured beyond the safe German favorites - Johann Brahms, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner - to modern opera by Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Born on June 26, 1933, in Milan, Abbado began training under his father, Michelangelo Abbado, before entering Milan's Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory to study piano. After graduation in 1955, he continued piano classes with Austrian concertist Friedrich Gulda and began learning conducting from Antonio Votto, a specialist in Italian symphonic music. Over the next three years, Abbado pursued conducting with Hans Swarowsky, conductor of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. In class at the Vienna Academy of Music, Abbado sometimes sang in the Singverein choir under Herbert von Karajan, his mentor and role model. Abbado further refined his orchestral skills at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena under Alceo Galliera, conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Carlo Zecchi, leader of the Czech Philharmonic.

Attained a Balance

Abbado first took the baton at the Teatro Communale in Trieste, conducting Sergei Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges at the age of 25. Still unpolished and uncertain of his own identity as an orchestral interpreter, Abbado displayed a mature regard for the markings of the composer's original score. Strong of arm, he forced both instrumentalists and singers to stay within the bounds of a precise, balanced presentation that was both historically correct and artistically pleasing.

Abbado's debut prefaced a noteworthy entrance into a profession that quickly introduced his promise to the world. At Tanglewood, home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he earned the Koussevitzky conducting prize in 1958. He first encountered American music lovers that April at a concert with the New York Philharmonic.

Broadened His Perspective

For Abbado's early mastery of a wide repertory of classical and romantic music, he won the Mitropoulos Prize for conducting in 1963, shared with Pedro Calderon and Zdenek Kosler, both older and more experienced artists. At the time, critical opinion had not reached a firm consensus on Abbado, but critics soon acknowledged that he possessed the talent of another Arturo Toscanini. In 1965, von Karajan signaled formal acceptance among the music community by introducing Abbado at the Salzburg Easter Festival conducting Mahler's Second Symphony. Abbado valued the older musician's guidance and compared him to a sage, compassionate father. After twelve years at the Teatro alla Scala, Abbado made a significant career move by leaving his country in 1965 to lead the Vienna Philharmonic. He returned in triumph in 1968 to become opera conductor of Milan's La Scala, the mecca of Italian opera.

Up the orchestral ladder, Abbado retained the respect of his peers by guest conducting for the London Symphony in 1972 and for a tour of China and Japan with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1972 and 1973. That same year, he won the Mozart Medal of the Mozart Gemeinde of Vienna. Entering his peak years, he took the La Scala company to the Soviet Union in 1974 and led the Vienna Philharmonic and the La Scala company in the United States in 1976.

Master of Self

The main attraction at an Abbado concert is leadership, a character trait he claims to have derived from Wilhelm Furtwangler, one of Germany's most beloved maestros. Unlike the prima donnas of an earlier generation, Abbado throws no tantrums, yet manages to elicit from orchestra, choir, and soloists a high quality of sound and delivery. With the caution of a true connoisseur of the arts, he subdues his urge to venture into individual interpretation by consistent reproduction of the original music.

Remaining at the head of La Scala until 1980, Abbado strove for new challenges. For programs such as the 1976 presentation of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at London's Covent Garden, he earned praise for achievements that boosted the cast's reputation and elevated classical opera itself. Dissatisfied with seasons that polished old gems he insisted on breaking new ground with at least one new contemporary title each year. For his final production at La Scala, Abbado chose an original score of Peter Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, which was repeated after his promotion to director of the 1994 Salzburg Easter Festival. For the second performance, he arranged post-modern staging that echoed the demoralization of Russia in the mid-1990s.

International Star

Abbado's globe-trotting schedule has placed him before the world's major symphonies to direct a variety of demanding music. For all his promotion of a broad range of works, he has exhibited an affinity for Italy's beloved Giuseppe Verdi, whose works he interpreted before adoring fans at Covent Garden. Equally at home among opera lovers at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Abbado has developed style and performance capabilities that suit most opera houses. In Austria in the late 1980s, he led the Vienna State Opera in a virtuoso performance of Alban Berg's grimly atonal Wozzeck, the basis of a CD that collectors immediately ranked a classic.

Built Opera's Future

Energetic and visionary, Abbado began leaving his mark on the musical scene by establishing the European Community Youth Orchestra in 1978 and by conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe three years later. After serving as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1979, he earned the Golden Nicolai Medal of the Vienna Philharmonic the next year. In 1982, he established Milan's La Filarmonica della Scala. Returned to the United States, he was principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony from 1982 to 1986.

Late in the 1980s, Abbado kept up the pace of fine music by serving from 1983 to 1988 as the London Symphony Orchestra music director. He won the Gran Croce in 1984 and the Mahler Medal of Vienna the next year. Concurrently with his other projects, he assumed the baton of the Vienna State Opera in 1986, the year that he founded Vienna's Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. At his height, he received France's Legion d'Honneur in 1986. The following year, Abbado produced a masterful Le Nozze di Figaro, one of Mozart's most beloved works. In 1988, he established Wien Modern, an annual festival showcasing the contemporary arts.

A World-Class Conductor

In 1989, Abbado succeeded his friend and mentor Herbert von Karajan as the first Italian-born artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic and inaugurated a twelve-year career marked by variety and flexibility unknown under past masters. Of his qualifications, a music critic at the Economist called him "reserved and outwardly unassuming but also intensely ambitious," perhaps in reference to his recording contracts with competitors Deutsche Grammophon and CBS/Sony. Instrumentalists under his direction discovered a taskmaster devoted to removing even a hint of imperfection or uncertainty with long hours of rehearsal and refinement. To ready the next generation of attentive musicians, in 1992, he collaborated with cellist Natalia Gutman in initiating the "Berlin Movement," an annual chamber music festival combining the talents of adult professionals with young and untried instrumentalists.

Left His Mark

Still perfecting his art, Abbado lent a professional touch to a delicately atmospheric 1993 performance of Claude Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande; a textured, intimate dramatization of Richard Strauss's Elektra; and a melodic 1995 performance of Robert Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust. Abbado energized the 1996 Salzburg Easter Festival with a dynamic dramatization of Verdi's Otello, an operatic version of a moving Shakespearean tragedy. In 1998, Abbado continued to refresh musical favorites with a conscientiously lyric suite of Verdi arias, an energetic presentation of Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and a dramatic, unified rendering of Mozart's Don Giovanni, which Abbado enhanced with graceful embellishments to balance the terror of the protagonist's descent into Hell.

Retirement

As conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which most Europeans consider the height of orchestral attainment, Abbado astounded arm-chair critics by departing from the paths of his predecessors, Furtwangler and von Karajan. The fifth of five Berlin conductors, Abbado had made a smooth transition and promised ticket-holders a succession of inspired seasons. In 1998, he chose not to renew his contract. His resignation, effective in 2002, dismayed the German musical elite, who expected their maestros to die in office. To public consternation, he insisted on reserving more time for books, sailboats, and vacations on the ski slopes. Murmurs that he had grown slack sounded more like sour grapes than honest critiques of the man who had broadened the orchestra's horizons, hired younger instrumentalists, invited a higher percentage of female vocalists to perform, and occasionally lent his baton to star conductors as well as newcomers to the podium.

Maintained High Standards

In 1999, Abbado showed no sign of slowing down. He continued a demanding schedule of the best in symphonic music. He refined Wagner's Tristan und Isolde for the Salzburg Easter Festival and added to a growing canon of recordings an expert performance of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The new millennium brought additional treasures from Abbado, who performed Richard Strauss's works with superb emotional clarity, from languorous to passionate. In August, a public squabble with director Gerard Mortier caused the disbanding of a fine cast and prevented further staging of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. Still very much in control, at the age of 68, Abbado again challenged his musicians to perform a spirited version of Verdi's Falstaff, which unsettled the audience with its rapid-fire phrasing.

Books

Almanac of Famous People, 7th ed. Gale Group, 2001.

Complete Marquis Who's Who, Marquis Who's Who, 2001.

Debrett's People of Today, Debrett's Peerage Ltd., 2001.

International Dictionary of Opera, 2 vols. St. James Press, 1993.

Periodicals

Christian Science Monitor, July 25, 1984.

The Economist, October 21, 1989; March 14, 1998.

The Independent (London), August 29, 1998.

National Review, July 14, 1989; July 9, 1990.

New York Times, March 1, 1987; October 9, 1989; November 8, 1989; February 28, 1991; October 11, 1991; May 8, 1992; May 12, 1992; May 24, 1992; January 17, 1993; October 24, 1993; October 30, 1993; November 2, 1993; April 9, 1994; June 26, 1994; March 14, 1996; March 15, 1996; October 4, 1996; October 5, 1996; October 9, 1996; December 29, 1996; August 2, 1998; October 1998; June 20, 1999; September 15, 1999; October 27, 1999.

Notes, December 1993.

Opera News, February 13, 1993; August 1993; September 1994;December 24, 1994; September 1995; October 1995; August 1996; January 11, 1997; August 1997; January 17, 1998; May 1998; December 1998; August 1999; October 1999; February 2000; August 2000; August 2001.

Wall Street Journal, December 13, 1989; March 13, 1996; October 9, 1996; November 10, 1999.

Online

"Claudio Abbado," The Alden Theatre,http://www.wgms.com/conductor-abbado.shtm (October 22, 2001).

"Claudio Abbado," The Artistic Director,http://berlinphilharmonic.com/engl/2orch/b20201c-.htm (October 22, 2001).

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Claudio Abbado
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Abbado, Claudio, 1933-, Italian conductor, b. Milan. He debuted (1960) in his native city, conducting the orchestra at La Scala, where he subsequently served (1968-86) as musical director. He was appointed (1971) principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic, was (1986-91) musical director of the Vienna State Opera, and since 1987 has directed music for the city of Vienna. Abbado was also (1979-88) musical director of the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1989 he became principal conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic. Abbado is known for his expansion of the standard classical repertoire, often with contemporary works, and for his active encouragement of young musicians and composers.
Artist: Claudio Abbado
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Claudio Abbado
  • Country: Italy
  • Born: June 26, 1933 in Milan, Italy

Biography

Claudio Abbado is one of the leading conductors of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. He has held a number of prestigious posts, any one of which would be a crowning achievement for a conductor, and his musical presence in both concert and recordings has left an undeniable legacy of excellence.

His family traces its roots to a prominent Moorish family expelled from Spain in 1492 and is said to include the architect of the Alhambra. His father was Michelangelo Abbado, a violinist and teacher who gave both Claudio and his brother, Marcello Abbado, their first piano and music lessons (Marcello has gone on to become a pianist and composer).

Claudio was educated at the Milan Conservatory, graduating in 1955 with a certificate in piano. While a student there, he also studied conducting with Antonio Votto. In 1955, he studied piano with Friedrich Gulda in Salzburg, and then (from 1956-1958) attended Hans Swarowsky's conducting classes at the Vienna Academy of Music.

In 1958, he made his conducting debut in Trieste, and won the Koussevitzky Competition at Tanglewood. This led to his engagement in several provincial opera houses and orchestras, as well as a teaching position at Parma Conservatory. After winning the 1963 Dimitri Mitropoulos Prize, he was awarded a five-month position on the staff of the New York Philharmonic, with which he made his American professional debut on April 7, 1963. The year 1965 marked his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, but more so for his return to his hometown of Milan to conduct at La Scala. He would conduct there again in 1967, become the company's resident director in 1968, and be named music director in 1971.

Abbado was credited with raising the performing standards at La Scala, and for broadening its repertory. He also organized its orchestral players into the Orchestra della Scala, whose performances of works by such composers as Schoenberg, Nono, Ligeti, Stockhausen, and Berio brought Abbado special acclaim as an interpreter of modern works.

In 1971, he was appointed principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic. Soon after, he formed a relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra, of which he became principal conductor in 1979, and finally music director, a post he retained until 1988. Other activities during this period included the founding of the European Community Youth Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Gustav Mahler Youth Chamber Orchestra.

For the period 1982-1986, Abbado served as principal guest conductor at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, after which he was appointed music director of the Vienna State Opera. The Viennese further honored him by appointing him general music director of the city. During his tenure, he founded (1988) the Wien Modern music festival, which has now grown to encompass all forms of contemporary art.

Abbado succeeded Herbert von Karajan as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1989. In 1991, he relinquished his position at the Vienna State Opera, but he has maintained a presence in the city by founding the annual Vienna prize for young composers. In 1994, he succeeded to another post once held by Karajan, namely the directorship of the Salzburg Easter Festival.

Abbado is an exciting conductor who relishes the beauty of tone. His extensive discography includes the complete symphonic works of Mahler, Schubert, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven, and dozens of other recordings. ~ Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide

Discography

Giuseppe Verdi: Gustavo III

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Le Nozze Di Figaro

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Vincenzo Bellini: I Capuleti E I Montecchi

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Mahler: Symphonie No. 1

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Bruckner: Symphonie No. 4 "Romantische"

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Arnold Schoenberg: A Survivor from Warsaw; Anton Webern: Orchestral Works

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Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

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Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

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Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphonies 4 & 5

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Mussorgsky: Kovanschina

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Mozart: Symphonies Nos.28, 29 & 35 "Haffner"

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Rossini: Il Viaggio a Reims

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Rossini: Il Viaggio a Reims

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Mozart: "Posthorn" Serenade; Marches K. 335 Nos. 1 & 2; Divertimento K. 251 "Nannerl Septet"

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 /Marche Slave

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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Tempest/Symphony No. 2

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Beethoven: The Overtures

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Wagner: Lohengrin

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New Year's Eve Concert Berlin 1992

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Schubert:Fierrabras

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Mahler: Symphonie No.5

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Claudio Abbado Conducts Mussorgsky

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Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses; Leos Janacek: Sinfonietta; Sergey Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3

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Sergey Prokoviev: Piano Concerto No. 3; Ravel: Piano Concerto in G; Saspard de la Nuit

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Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 In E Major

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Abbado Edition [Box Set]

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Modest Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

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Beethoven: Symphonie Nr. 9

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Dvorak: Symphony No. 8; The Noonday Witch

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Rossini: Il Viaggio A Reims

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Brahms, Richard Strauss, Max Reger, Wolfgang Rihm: Music Inspired by the Poet Friedrich Hölderlin

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Tchaikovsky:1812 Overture/Marche Slave/Romeo and Juliet/The Tempest

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Tchaikovsky:1812 Overture/Marche Slave/Romeo and Juliet/The Tempest

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Paul Hindemith: Kammermusik, Nos. 1, 4 & 5

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Prometheus: The Myth in Music

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Gioacchini Rossini: La Cenerentola

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Alban Berg: Wozzeck

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Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Scythian Suite; Lieutenant Kijé

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Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 23 & 36; Sinfonia Concertante

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Rachmaninov:Concerto No.2/Rhapsody on a Theme Of Paganini

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Gustav Mahler: Symphonie No 02

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Beethoven: Symphonien Nos. 5 & 7

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Franz Schubert: Symphony Nos. 1- 6, 8 & 9/Grand Duo/Rosamunde

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Mendelssohn: Overtures

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Giuseppe Verdi: Messa De Requiem/Quattro Pezzi Sacri

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Beethoven: Die Weihe des Hauses; Leonore Prohaska (Incidental Music)

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Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

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Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin; Janácek: Sinfonietta

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Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream/Symphony No.4/Incidental Music,Op.21

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Giuseppe Verdi: Aida

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Rossini: Overtures

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Schubert: Messe G-Dur; Schumann: Requiem für Mignon

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Georges Bizet: Carmen Highlights

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Brahms: Symphonie No. 4; Haydn-Variationen; Nänie

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Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6

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Verdi: Don Carlos

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Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances

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Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances

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Beethoven: Symphonien Nos. 7 & 8

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Ravel: Piano Concertos

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Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

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Schumann: Piano Concerto

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8

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Schubert: Symphony No.9/Rosamunde

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Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri

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Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op.45

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5/Voyevode

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Schubert: Symphonie Nos. 1 & 2

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Maurice Ravel: Boléro/Daphnis Et Chloé/Alborada

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Brahms: Rhapsodie Op.53/Symphonie No.2

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Prokofiev: Peter And the Wolf/March In B Flat Major/Overture On Hebrew Themes/Classical Symphony

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Mahler: Symphony No.5

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Schubert: Rosamunde Princess of Cyprus

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Mahler: Symphonie No.8

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Brahms: Tragic Overture Op.81/Song of Destiny Op.54/Symphony No.3

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Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn/Hungarian Dances

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Beethoven: Symphonie No. 9

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Wagner-Gala

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Mozart: Mass In C Minor, K.427

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Mozart: Mass In C Minor, K.427

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.4/Romeo & Juliet (Fantasy Overture)

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.3; 1812 Overture

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1; The Nutcracker Suite

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Claudio Abbado

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Claudio Abbado

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Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro

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Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet [Excerpts]

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Verdi: Un Ballo In Maschera

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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Songs and Dances of Death

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Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

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Modest Mussorgsky: St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain

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Rossini: The Barber of Seville

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Alban Berg: Lulu-Suite; Altenberg-Lieder; 3 Orchesterstücke

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Pergolesi: Stabat Mater

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 6; Fantasia

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Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

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Don Carlo

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Verdi: Aida

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Rossini: Barbiere di Siviglia

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Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

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Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

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Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

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Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

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Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

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Mozart: Don Giovanni

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Berlin Gala: Salute to Carmen

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Brahms: Symphonie No. 1; Gesang der Parzen

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Mozart: Requiem

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Verdi per due

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Verdi: Un Ballo in maschera

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Mozart: Symphony No25; Serenade No9

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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Ravel: Bolero; Rapsodie Espagnol

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Christine Schäfer:Mozart Arias and Strauss Orchestral Songs

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Dvorak: Othello Overture / Symphony No.9

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Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

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Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

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Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture; Romeo and Juliet; Marche slave; The Tempest

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Verdi: Un ballo in maschera

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Verdi: Overtures and Choruses

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Brahms: Symphony No. 2; Academic Festival Overture; Alto Rhapsody

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Verdi: Aida

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Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 2, 3, 6, & 7

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Alban Berg: Altenberg Lieder; Lulu Suite; Lyrische Suite

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Haydn: Symphonies 93 & 101

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Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

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Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi

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Verdi: Don Carlo

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Rossini: La Cenerentola

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Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex

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Rossini: Overtures

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Rossini: La Cenerentola

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Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

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Berlin Gala: Songs of Love and Desire

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Verdi: Macbeth

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Verdi: Don Carlos

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Ravel: Orchestral Works

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Beethoven: Die Symphonien

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 9

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Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 / Clarinet Concerto / Concerto for Flute & Harp

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Beethoven in Berlin

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Brahms: Serenade No. 1

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Luigi Nono: Il canto sospeso; Gustav Mahler: Kindertotenlieder

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6; Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture

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Rossini & Verdi: Overtures

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Verdi: Requiem

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Verdi: Don Carlos

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Stravinsky: The Firebird (Suite); Le Sacre du Printemps

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Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

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Verdi: Macbeth

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 "Eroica" & 4

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

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The Berlin Album

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Verdi: Messa da Requiem

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Mendelssohn: 5 Symphonies; 7 Overtures

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Mahler: Symphony No. 3

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Mahler: Symphony No. 7

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Mahler: Symphony No. 9

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Ravel: Complete Orchestral Works

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Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Lieutenant Kijé

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Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 1-6; Orchestral Works (Limited Edition)

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Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande Suite

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Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri

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Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra

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Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi

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Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri

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Wagner: Orchestral Music

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Verdi: Aida

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Beethoven: Symphonien Nos. 1 & 2 [DVD Audio]

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Beethoven: Symphonie No. 9 [DVD Audio]

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Beethoven: Symphonien No. 5 & No. 6 ("Pastorale") [DVD Audio]

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 [DVD Audio]

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Beethoven: Symphonien No. 3 ("Eroica") & No. 4 [DVD Audio]

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Beethoven: Symphonie Nr. 9

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Mozart: Symphony No. 25; Symphony No. 31 "Paris"; Masonic Funeral Music; Symphony in D major "The Posthorn"

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Janácek: Sinfonietta; Tagebuch eines Verschollenen

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Portrait of Conductors: Claudio Abbado

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Mozart: Mass K. 139 "Waisenhaus-Messe"

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Highlights from Verdi's Requiem

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Mahler: Symphonie No. 5 [Hybrid SACD]

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Mahler: Sinfonia No. 6 "Tragica"

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Mahler: Symphonie No. 2 "Resurrection"; Kindertotenlieder

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Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra [Hybrid SACD]

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Mozart: Don Giovanni [Hybrid SACD]

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Abbado Conducts Mahler & Debussy

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Bizet: Carmen

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Mahler: Symphony No. 6

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Verdi: Aida

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Mozart: Symphony Nos. 40 & 41 "Jupiter"

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Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [Hybrid SACD]

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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; La Valse

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Schubert: Symphonie No. 9; Fierrabras-Ouvertüre

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Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi

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Mozart: Symphony No. 28; Symphony No. 29; Symphony No. 35 "Haffner"

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Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder

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Tschaikowsky: Symphonie No. 6 "Pathétique"; Violinkonzert

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Beethoven: Symphonie No. 3 "Eroica"; Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt

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Mozart: Klavierkonzerte Nos. 20 & 27

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Mendelssohn: Symphonien Nos. 3 "Schottische" & 5 "Reformation"

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Mahler: Symphonie No. 4

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Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 96 "The Miracle" & 101 "The Clock"

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Berg: Lulu-Suite; Altenberg-Lieder; 3 Orchesterstücke

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Ravel: Boléro; La valse; Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; Nocturne

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Beethoven: Symphonie No. 5; Ouvertüren "Egmont" & "Leonore II"

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Beethoven: Symphonie No. 6 "Pastorale"; Ouvertüren "König Stephan" & "Die Weihe des Hauses"

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Mozart: Klavierkonzerte Nos. 17 & 21

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Schubert: Symphonie No. 8 "Unvollendete"; Rosamunde - Auszüge

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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Khovanschina-Prelude

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Beethoven: Symphonie No. 7; Ouvertüren "Coriolan" & "Leonore III"

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Verdi: Aida [Highlights]

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Verdi: Ouvertüren & Chöre

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Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia [Highlights]

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Brahms: Symphonie No. 2; Akademische Festouvertüre

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Bizet: L'Arlésienne-Suites; Ravel: Ma mère l'oye

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Bizet: Carmen [Highlights]

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Brahms: 12 Ungarische Tänze; Johann & Josef Strauss: Walzer & Polkas

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Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

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Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri

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Bizet: Carmen (Extraits)

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Rossini: Le Barbier de Séville (Extraits)

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Tchaikovsky: The 6 Symphonies [Box Set]

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Beethoven: Symphonien 1-9 [Box Set]

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Beethoven: Symphonien 1-9 [Box Set]

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Haydn: Symphony No. 96 "The Miracle"; Sinfonia Concertante

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Verdi: Macbeth

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Rossini: La Cenerentola

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Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz; Sofferte onde serene; Contrappunto dialettico alla mente

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Bizet: L'Arlésienne Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Carmen Suite

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Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3; Bassoon Concerto; Oboe Concerto; Haydn: Trumpet Concerto

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Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [DVD Video]

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Mahler: 10 Symphonien [Box Set]

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Rossini: Ouvertüren

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Beethoven: Klavierkonzert No. 1

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Verdi: Requiem

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Mozart: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 20 & 21

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Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

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Hindemith: Kammermusik 1-7; Der Schwanendreher

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Richard Strauss Gala [DVD Video]

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Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" [DVD Video]

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Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" [DVD Video]

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Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 "Scottish" & 4 "Italian"

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Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

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Verdi: Aida [Highlights]

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Rossini: Il Viaggio a Reims

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Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf [DVD Video]

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New Year's Concert 1991 [DVD Video]

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Ravel: Bolero; Rapsodie Espagnole; Ma Mère l'Oye; Pavane

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Verdi: Opera Choruses

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Rossini: Il Viaggio a Reims

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Mozart: Violin Concertos; Sinfonia Concertante

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Mozart: Symphonies Nos 29, 33, 35, 38, 41

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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5

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Marches and Dances

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Mahler: Symphonie No. 5

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Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition; Stravinsky: Pétrouchka

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Giuseppe Verdi: Chöre und Ballettmusik

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Verdi: Opera Choruses

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Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater

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Tschaikovsky: Symphonie Nos. 4 & 2 "Kleinrussische"

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Beethoven: The Symphonies [Box Set]

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Haydn: 7 London Symphonies [Box Set]

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Neujahrskonzert, 1988

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Brahms: The 4 Symphonies

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Wikipedia: Claudio Abbado
Top

Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI[1] (born June 26, 1933), is an Italian conductor.

Claudio Abbado

Claudio Abbado has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, and, most recently, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra from 1989 to 2002, when he retired from the position for health reasons.

Contents

Biography

Born in Milan, Italy, Abbado was the son of the violinist and composer Michelangelo Abbado, who was his first piano teacher. After studies at the Milan Conservatory, in 1955 Claudio Abbado studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1958, he won the international Koussevitsky competition for conductors, which resulted in a number of operatic conducting engagements in Italy. In 1963 he won the Dmitri Mitropoulos Competition for conductors, allowing him to work for five months with the New York Philharmonic.

Abbado recalls desiring to become a conductor for the first time as a child when he heard a performance of the Nocturnes by Claude Debussy. He had the opportunity to attend many orchestral rehearsals in Milan led by such conductors as Arturo Toscanini and Wilhelm Furtwängler. Abbado has told interviewers that Toscanini's tyrannical and sometimes abusive manner towards musicians in rehearsal repelled him, and that he resolved to behave in the gentler manner of Bruno Walter. Abbado is known to exhibit a friendly, understated, and unconfrontational manner in rehearsal.

He made his debut at La Scala in his hometown of Milan in 1960 and served as its music director from 1968 to 1986, conducting not only the traditional Italian repertoire but also presenting a contemporary opera each year, as well as a concert series devoted to the works of Alban Berg and Modest Mussorgsky. Abbado also founded the Filarmonica della Scala, in 1982, for the performance of orchestral repertoire in concert.

Abbado conducted the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time in 1965 in a concert at the Salzburg Festival. He served as music director for the Vienna State Opera from 1986 to 1991, with notable productions such as Mussorgsky's original Boris Godunov and his seldom-heard Khovanshchina, Franz Schubert's Fierrabras, and Gioacchino Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims.

He has been especially known for introducing 20th-century music to operatic repertory.

He was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1987. In the US, he was principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1986. With both orchestras, Abbado made a number of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon.

In 1989, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra elected Abbado as their chief conductor, to succeed Herbert von Karajan, a post he held until 2002.[2] In 2004 he returned to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic and performed Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in a series of recorded live concerts. The resulting CD won Best Orchestral Recording and Record of the Year in Gramophone Magazine's 2006 awards.[3]

The Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic established the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize in 2006 in his honour.[4]

Abbado has performed and recorded a wide range of Romantic works, in particular Gustav Mahler whose symphonies he has recorded several times. He is also noted for his interpretations of modern works such as Arnold Schoenberg, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Giacomo Manzoni, Luigi Nono, Bruno Maderna, Thomas Adler, Giovanni Sollima, Roberto Carnevale, Franco Donatoni and George Benjamin.

In 1988, he founded the music festival Wien Modern, which has since expanded to include all aspects of contemporary art. This interdisciplinary festival takes place each year under his direction.

Abbado is also well-known for his work with young musicians. He is founder and music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra (1978) and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (1986). He is also a frequent guest conductor with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with whom he recorded a cycle of Franz Schubert symphonies to considerable acclaim. More recently, he has worked with the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar of Venezuela.[5]

Abbado was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2000 and the treatment led to the removal of a portion of his digestive system. After his recovery he formed the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in 2003[6] and their concerts have been highly acclaimed[7]. Abbado is scheduled to remain as the orchestra's music director and chief conductor through 2010.[8] He also serves as music director of the Mozart Orchestra of Bologna, Italy.

In September 2007 he announced that he was cancelling all of his forthcoming conducting engagements for the "near future" on the advice of his physicians[9] but two months later he resumed conducting concerts with an engagement in Bologna.[10]

Abbado's son is the opera-director Daniele Abbado. From his relationship with the violinist Viktoria Mullova, he is the father of her oldest child, Misha.[11] His nephew, Roberto Abbado, is also a conductor.

Awards

Abbado has received many awards and recognitions among which the Imperial Prize of Japan, Mahler Medal, Bundesverdienstkreuz, Khytera Prize, and honorary doctorates from universities of Ferrara, Cambridge, Aberdeen, and Havana.

In 1958, he won the Koussevitsky Competition, establishing him in Italy, and then won the 1963 Mitropoulos Prize, after which he rapidly became known internationally as an orchestral and opera conductor.

In 1973, he won the Mozart Medal, awarded by Mozartgemeinde Wien.[12]

He has won 1997 Grammy Award in the Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without conductor) category for "Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 1 With Finale 1921, Op. 24 No. 1" and 2005 Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra) category for "Beethoven: Piano Cons. Nos. 2 & 3" performed by Martha Argerich.

References

  1. ^ quirinale.it
  2. ^ Alex Ross (2001-10-22). "Beethoven Unbound". The New Yorker. http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/05/abbados_beethov.html. Retrieved 2007-08-07. 
  3. ^ "Best of Category (Orchestral), Gramophone Award Winner, and Record of the Year". Gramophone. June 2006. http://www.gramophone.co.uk/awardstemplate.asp?id=955&award_year=2006. Retrieved 2007-08-07. 
  4. ^ Matthew Westphal (2006-11-06). "Berlin Philharmonic Names Winner of First Claudio Abbado Composition Prize". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/5540.html. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  5. ^ Charlotte Higgins (2006-11-24). "Land of hope and glory". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1955176,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  6. ^ Tom Service (2007-08-22). "The maestro". The Guardian. http://music.guardian.co.uk/proms2007/story/0,,2153754,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-30. 
  7. ^ Andrew Clements (2007-08-24). "Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Abbado (review of Prom 51, 2007)". The Guardian. http://music.guardian.co.uk/proms2007/story/0,,2155410,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-30. 
  8. ^ Ben Mattison (2005-02-01). "Claudio Abbado Extends Tenure at Lucerne Festival Orchestra". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/1293.html. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  9. ^ Daniel J. Wakin (2007-09-07). "Abbado, Ill, Cancels Appearances". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/arts/music/07abba.html. Retrieved 2007-09-07. 
  10. ^ Matthew Westphal (2007-11-09). "Claudio Abbado Returns to Podium Following Illness". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/7338.html. Retrieved 2007-11-11. 
  11. ^ Tim Ashley (2001-02-02). "And this one's by the Bee Gees". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,3605,431917,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-30. 
  12. ^ "Claudio Abbado biography". http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/abbado-claudio-biography. 

External links

Preceded by
Guido Cantelli
Music Director, La Scala, Milan
1968–1986
Succeeded by
Riccardo Muti

 
 

 

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