Publications

Claudio Abbado, La casa dei suoni.
Testi a cura di G. Valerio; illustrazioni di P. Cordoni, Milano, Vallardi, 1986. Illustrazioni di E. Luzzati; video di D. Abbado, Milano, Garzanti, 1986-95.

Das Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester mit Claudio Abbado. Fotografie di C. Groth, Berlino, Nicolai, 1994.

Accordi. Claudio Abbado & Berliner Philarmoniker.
Testi di E. Regazzoni ed E. Olmi. Foto di C. Colombo. Milano, Federico Motta Editore, 1996.

Claudio Abbado, Musica sopra Berlino. Conversazione con Lidia Bramani. Dedicated to the Berlin cycles between 1989 and 1996. Milan, Bompiani, 1998.  Update (second edition) of this book in december 2000

Claudio Abbado, Dirigent
Coordinated by Ulrich Eckhardt
Berlin, Nicolai Verlag 2003
Italian version edition Il Saggiatore october 2003 (with CD)

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The fifties

Studies composition, piano and conducting until 1955 at the Milan conservatoire. His first experiences include conducting and playing with the Orchestra d'Archi di Milano, founded by his father, the violinist Michelangelo Abbado. His connections with Vienna date from this time. After having obtained a scholarship he studies there from 1956 to1958 under the guidance of Hans Swarowsky. His fellow student is Zubin Mehta, whom he had first met at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena in a class held by Carlo Zecchi. With Mehta he sings in the choir of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and is thus able to hear rehearsals of Bruno Walter, George Szell, Hermann Scherchen, Herbert von Karajan.
In 1958 he wins the Koussevitzky competition in Tanglewood and receives invitations to conduct American orchestras, but prefers to return to Europe.
He gives his début in 1959 in Trieste (to which he will return in 1962 for Prokofiev's Love of the Three Oranges and in 1999 with the GMJO).

The sixties

In 1960 début at La Scala in a concert celebrating Scarlatti' tercentenary (Piccola Scala).
After having won the Mitropoulos Competition in New York in 1963, he first appears at the Salzburg Festival in 1965 conducting the Vienna Philharmonic at the invitation of Herbert von Karajan (his début in Vienna follows two years later). In Salzburg he conducts Mahler's 2nd symphony, which he will also play in Milan the same year. Still in 1965 he conducts the London Symphony Orchestra for the first time.
In March 1966 he conducts Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi in a production by Castellani and in October 1967 in a production by Enriquez. The opera is also shown at the EXPO 67 in Montreal, where he had first appeared in 1963.
At the same time he starts recording for DG and Decca, beginning a collaboration which will lead to recordings of the whole symphonic works of Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Ravel. He inaugurates the 1967/68 Scala season with Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in a production directed by De Lullo.

68-86

I Capuleti e i Montecchi are repeated in January 1968.
From 1968 to 1986, as musical director of the orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, he thoroughly broadens the repertoire to include classical works of the 20th century rarely played at the time: Wozzeck and Lulu by Berg, The Rake's Progress and Oedipus Rex by Stravinsky, Moses and Aron as well as Erwartung by Schönberg, The Miraculous Mandarin by Bartok and contemporary operas such as Penderecki's Paradise Lost, Donnerstag aus Licht, Samstag aus Licht and Montag aus Licht by Stockhausen, Luciano Berio's La vera storia and Luigi Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore.
In summer 1968 he conducts Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Salzburg, a town he will remain particularly attached to, conducting there yearly. In the same summer he presents Verdi's Don Carlo at Covent Garden (it is Shirley Verrett's début), an opera he will take up again in November at the Metropolitan in New York and return to for the opening of La Scala.
In March 1969 at La Scala it is the turn of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex (combined with Sophocles' Oedipus and music by Gabrieli) as well as Lucia di Lammermoor, both directed by De Lullo. In 1969 too a Mahler cycle starts at La Scala in the course of which all the symphonies will be presented.
In December the Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, already shown at Salzburg, is presented at La Scala.
In April 1970 Don Carlo is taken up again at La Scala. In September he conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in two concerts at Edinburgh . This marks the beginning of a continuous relationship with this orchestra.
In 1970/71 he works and records with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In 1971 he is named principal guest conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic and as such is responsible for the broadening of the repertoire traditionally offered in the Austrian capital.
At La Scala in January 1971 he repeats Il Barbiere di Siviglia and in March he conducts Wozzeck, directed by Jernek. At the Maggio Musicale in Florence as well as in Edinburgh in September he offers Cenerentola in a Ponnellle production. In Munich he conducts Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, the opera with which he also inaugurates the 1971/72 season at La Scala, directed by Giorgio Strehler.
From 1972 onwards he is principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. In April he conducts at La Scala Rossini's Cenerentola (Ponnelle) and Verdi's Aida (De Lullo). The latter is taken to the Nationaltheater in Munich, as is also Verdi's Requiem, during the Olympic Games there.
In May 1973 he conducts Cenerentola in the Theater an der Wien, after having presented it first at La Scala in April. He opens the 1973/74 season of this Milanese theatre with Rossini's Italiana in Algeri according to a new critical edition and produced by Ponnelle. Later the same month he takes up
again Simon Boccanegra.
In February 1974 he repeats at La Scala Cenerentola and in April it is the turn of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, directed by Otto Schenk. Still in 1974 he conducts in Moscow Cenerentola, Simon Boccanegra and Verdi's Requiem.
In December, after having offered the opening of the season to Böhm, who conducts Fidelio, he presents at La Scala Prokofiev's Love of the Three Oranges, produced by Strehler.
In January 1975, at Covent Garden, he conducts Un Ballo in Maschera directed by Otto Schenk. In April at La Scala it is the turn of Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore, produced by Ljubimov and once again of Italiana in Algeri.
He opens the 1975/76 season with Verdi's Macbeth directed by Giorgio Strehler and in the same month also conducts Cenerentola (Ponnelle).
In January 1976, still at La Scala, he conducts Simon Boccanegra and then again in March 1976 at the Royal Opera House, along with Cenerentola and the Verdi Requiem during the first exchange with Covent Garden in 25 years.
In September 1976 he is on tour at Washington with Simon Boccanegra, Macbeth, Verdi Requiem and Cenerentola, which he repeats later on at La Scala.
In April 1977 he presents a new Wozzeck, directed by Luca Ronconi. Later on, at the Edinburgh Festival, he conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a new production of Carmen, directed by Piero Faggioni. The Scala season opens with Verdi's Don Carlo in a complete version revised to mark the bicentenary of La Scala. Still in December, still at La Scala, he conducts Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, directed by Zeffirelli. That year ample space is accorded at La Scala to Schubert to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his death.
He also begins to work (and record for DG) continuously with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In 1978 he founds the European Community Youth Orchestra (ECYO), which under the name of International Youth Orchestra he had conducted for the first time the previous year at Aberdeen. In February 1978 at La Scala he conducts the Vienna Philharmonic (who also play Beethoven's Fidelio under Leonard
Bernstein). He takes up again Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore; in August/September he repeats Carmen in Edinburgh and Simon Boccanegra in Paris. This opera also opens the 1978/79 season at the Scala (still celebrating its bicentenary), season which also includes performances of Don Carlo in January 1979 and of Macbeth in April.
In May 1979 he conducts at the Paris Opéra Verdi's Requiem and Wozzeck, produced by Luca Ronconi. This is part of a Berg-Festival planned since June1975 by the two theatres and which culminates in a big exhibition. Back at La Scala, still during the Berg-Festival, after performances in May/June of
Lulu, conducted for the first time in the complete version by Pierre Boulez and directed by Patrice Chéreau, he takes up again Wozzeck between May and July.
From 1979 to 1988 he is music director of the London Symphony Orchestra and as such he incites a series of concerts dedicated to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms as well as in 1985 a festival dedicated to Mahler, Vienna and the 20th Century.
He opens the 1979/80 season at La Scala with Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, staged by Lioubimov and in April 1980 conducts Oedipus Rex, Schönberg's Erwartung and Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin.
Emanated from the ECYO 1981 sees the birth of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, of which he remains Artistic Adviser. The same year he becomes principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
In January Boris Godunov is taken up again at La Scala during a Mussorgsky-Festival, which also offers, amongst others, performances of Khovanshchina.
In May La Scala dedicates a whole cycle to Bartok, inviting the Budapest Opera on this occasion.
In June it is the turn of Verdi's Requiem, first in the Santo Stefano Church in Milan and then in Dresden, Prague, Budapest, Sofia and Epidaurus; in September/October 1981, still with the Scala orchestra he is in Tokyo, giving performances of Simon Boccanegra, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the Messa da Requiem.
He opens the 1981/82 Scala season this time with Wagner's Lohengrin, staged by Giorgio -Strehler. In April 1982 he takes up again Cenerentola and in May, still at La Scala, a Stravinsky-Congress is held.
Also in 1982 he founds the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala.
In 1983 he works at Covent Garden with Andrei Tarkovsky on a new production of Boris Godunov. In April he takes up Lohengrin again and in December Italiana in Algeri at La Scala.
In March 1984 he transfers the Strehler production of Simon Boccanegra to the Vienna State Opera. In August, at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, he presents Il Viaggio a Reims, directed by Luca Ronconi. In September he conducts the première of Luigi Nono's Prometeo in the Venetian church of San Lorenzo, inside which Renzo Piano has built a great structure in the form of a ship.
He opens the 1984/85 Scala season with a newly revised edition of Carmen and (still in December) takes up again Ponnelle's Barbiere di Siviglia.
In May 1985 he conducts at La Scala Macbeth and in September Il Viaggio a Reims as well as Nono's Prometeo. In October it is the turn of Schönberg's piano concerto with Pollini and of music by Berg, Ives and Mahler at the Barbican Centre in the course of the Mahler, Vienna and the 20th Century festival.



86-91

In May 1986 he conducts Pelléas et Mélisande during a Debussy-Festival at La Scala (production: Antoine Vitez) and in June a concert including Prélude à l'après d'un faune, La demoiselle élue, Nocturnes and Ibéria. In September 1986 he becomes Music Director of the Vienna State Opera (where he will
stay until 1991) and founds the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO). In October he conducts in Vienna Un Ballo in Maschera, directed by Gianfranco De Bosio.
In 1987 he is created Music Director of Vienna (GMD) and in June conducts Wozzeck (staged by Adolf Dresen) at the Opera.
In 1988 he repeats in Vienna the Debussy-Festival given two years previously at La Scala. To encourage the performance of contemporary music he founds Wien Modern, where the programme includes composers from Boulez to Nono, from Ligeti to Kurtag. After the first year exhibitions and plays join the
musical manifestations with the collaboration of the French, Italian and German cultural centres. Other Viennese dates: in January at the Opera Il Viaggio a Reims (production: Ronconi), at the Theater an der Wien in May Schubert's Fierrabras directed by Ruth Berghaus with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; in June Pelléas et Mélisande again at the Opera. Also in 1988 the Vienna Philharmonic join him on tour with a programme consisting of Beethoven's nine symphonies and the piano concertos (solist: Maurizio Pollini). The journey starts in Vienna in February, continues in New York and ends (with the
symphonies only) in Tokyo.
In October 1989 he is elected principal conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic, succeding thus to Furtwängler and Karajan.
The Viennese calendar for 1989 is very full, including in January Khovanshchina (produced by Kirchner), in June Elektra (Harry Kupfer) and in October Don Carlo (Pizzi), all at the Opera.
There too he presents in January 1990 Lohengrin (directed by Weber) and in May Mozart's Don Giovanni (staged by Luc Bondy). The latter he had already conducted in Tel Aviv in a semi-staged performance arranged by Lorenzo Mariani. In June Fierrabras is taken up again still in the production by Ruth
Berghaus, but this time played by the Vienna Philharmonic.
In May 1991 he conducts the same orchestra at the Theater an der Wien in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, staged by Jonathan Miller. In October the London Boris Godunov production by A. Tarkovsky makes its appearance at the Staatsoper during a festival dedicated to the great director. Here exhibitions are
staged, films from Eisenstein to Tarkovsky shown and compositions by Kurtag, Rihm, Nono and Furrer heard.


91-2002...

From 1991/92 onwards he transforms the habitual Berlin season. Every year a new theme is chosen which runs like a red thread through the season, knitting together the theatre, the cinema, literature, dance, photography and for which new works are commissioned by contemporary composers. The first
season the overall theme is the figure of Prometheus, with music by Beethoven, Nono, Liszt and Scriabine. In the same season he presents Boris Godunov and a semi-staged Wozzeck with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
In 1992 he founds with Natalia Gutman the Berlin Encounters (Berliner Begegnungen), which offers to the most gifted young people the opportunity of playing with great artists such as Gutman herself or Alfred Brendel. In February 1992, as part of the Rossini bicentenary, he conducts in Ferrara Il Viaggio a Reims, directed by Ronconi and played by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. This production with the Pesaro Festival is then taken to Vienna and Tokyo (but this time with the Vienna Philharmonic). That summer he conducts Janacek's From the House of the Dead, directed by Klaus Michael Gruber, at the
Salzburg Festival.
During the 1992/93 Berlin season he inaugurates a cycle dedicated to Hölderlin, with music by Brahms, R. Strauss, Reger, Rihm, Manzoni, Nono, Maderna and Holliger.
In February 1993 he performs a Brahms cycle including the four symphonies, the piano concertos , the violin concerto, the double concerto, the Tragic Ouverture and the Haydn-Variations op. 56 at the Paris Salle
Pleyel with the help of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1992 he presents in Berlin
a semi-staged version of Il Viaggio a Reims and later conducts at Covent Garden Pelléas et Mélisande ( a coproduction with the Viennese Opera). It is the same production which had already been shown at Milan in 1986 and in Vienna in 1988.
In January 1994 he conducts in Ferrara Le Nozze di Figaro, produced by Jonathan Miller.
As artistic director of the Easter Festival in Salzburg from 1994 onwards he begins a cycle called Kontrapunkte, which brings to our ears performances of contemporary compositions and distributes an annual price for young composers, writers and artists. Boris Godunov is once again on the programme,
first as a semi-staged performance in Berlin, then (produced by Herbert Wernicke) at the Easter Festival. In 1994 the theme dominating the concert season of the Berlin Philharmonic is that of Faust, with music by Mahler, Busoni, Liszt, Schumann and Berlioz.
From the 1994/95 season onwards the opening of each Berlin cycle is the semi-staged performance of the opera that will be produced at the next Easter Festival.With Strauss' Elektra (taken up again at Salzburg in a staging by Lev Dodin) he starts a Berlin cycle dedicated to Greek myths and classical antiquity. Here works by Brahms, Moussorgsky, Berlioz, Stravinsky, Monteverdi, Benda, Pergolesi and Purcell are performed. These concerts include too the première of Stele by Kurtag.
In January 1995 he conducts, in a Stefano Vizioli production, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
In November/December 1995 he starts a Shakespeare cycle in Berlin with Verdi's Otello (directed by Ermanno Olmi), which is also shown at the Easter Festival in 1996. The Shakespeare cycle also comprises works by Berlioz, Mendelssohn, R. Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev.
In 1996 Elektra is taken up again at Florence (Dodine). In November/December he inaugurates a Berg/Büchner cycle with Wozzeck (directed by Peter Stein), taken up again at Salzburg at Easter 1997. This cycle includes, amongst many works by Berg, various compositions written for this occasion by Rihm,
Kurtag and Vacchi. The same year sees the birth of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, emanated from the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
In January 1997 he conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Mozart's Don Giovanni (staged by Lorenzo Mariani). In May Otello (Olmi) is taken up again by the Teatro Regio in Turin. He reopens too, after a closure of 23 years, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo with a concert given by the Berlin Philharmonic.
With the performance of Fierrabras in November 1997 he inaugurates the Berlin cycle dedicated to the theme of the "Wanderer". This comprises amongst many works by Schubert also compositions by Mahler, R. Strauss, Wagner and Liszt.
At the Easter Festival 1998 he repeats Boris Godunov (Wernicke) and conducts at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin Falstaff, staged by Jonathan Miller. In July at Aix-en-Provence it is the turn of Don Giovanni, directed by Peter Brook and played by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
The cycle "Liebe und Tod" (during the 1998/99 season) opens with Tristan und Isolde, produced by K. M. Gruber and then transferred to Salzburg for the Easter Festival 1999. In the course of this cycle works by Berlioz, Schönberg, R. Strauss and Henze are presented.
In May 1999 the Jonathan Miller production of Falstaff is taken to Ferrara, this time with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. A tour with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester that summer leads to Tanglewood, Caracas, Havanna, Santiago de Compostela, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Bolzano and Trieste. On this
occasion he organizes a campaign destined to provide young Cuban musicians with suitable instruments so that they can develop themselves and enter into collaboration with Ferrara Musica.
In the course of the Italian cycle "Amore-Morte" (during the Berlin 1999/2000 season) he presents the semi-staged version of Simon Boccanegra, taken up again at Salzburg at Easter in a producton by Peter Stein, and a concert dedicated to the myth of Orpheus.
In February 2000 he conducts at Ferrara the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, staged by Mario Martone.

During the Salzburg Easter Festival 2000 Claudio Abbado conducts “Simon Boccanegra” in a production by Peter Stein.

In the summer, due to a major operation, he has to cancel all appearances for three months.

He returns in October 2000 and – against the advice of his doctors – travels to Japan, where amongst others the “Tristan und Isolde” production by Klaus Michael Grüber is given in Tokyo (November/December 2000). The tour is a triumph.

Back in Berlin, Claudio Abbado conducts on January 27th 2001 Verdi’s Requiem, given on the occcasion of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death. He then travels to Rome and Vienna with the Berlin Philharmonic – and with a programme comprising all the Beethoven symphonies and his piano concertos. The rest is history.

The Salzburg Easter Festival 2001 is consecrated to Verdi’s “Falstaff”, produced by Declan Donnellan.

In the season 2001/02, after an emotional tour of the United States in the wake of the tragic events of 11th September, Claudio Abbado inaugurates the cycle “Zum Raum wird hier die Zeit”. This is centred around Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal”, which is given a semi-scenic performance in Berlin (November/Dezember 2001).

A Beethoven/Mendelssohn concert in February 2002 is followed by Schumann’s “Scenes from Goethe’s Faust”.

With performances of “Parsifal”, produced by Peter Stein, at the Salzburg Easter Festival 2002 his function as artistic director of this festival draws to a close.

The last concert Claudio Abbado conducts in Berlin as artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic has a very special programme: Brahms (Song of Destiny), Mahler (Rückert-Lieder with Waltraut Meier) and Shostakovich’s occasional music for Shakespeare’s “King Lear” with projection of Grigory Kozintsev’s film.

Before leaving the city the President of the German Republic confers on him the highest German order, the Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Stern.

He goes on a final tour of Italy and to Vienna with the Berlin Philharmonic. The concerts are composed alternatively of Mahler’s 7th symphony or of the Rückert-Lieder (with Waltraut Meier) and Schönberg’s Pelléas and Mélisande. The exception is the European Concert given in Palermo’s Teatro Massimo on May 1st 2002. There Brahms’ Violin Concerto (with Gil Shaham) and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”) are played, followed by a very appropriate encore, Verdi’s ouverture to “I Vespri Siciliani”.

The last two concerts in Vienna (May 12th and 13th) give not only the audience but also the musicians the opportunity for a great demonstration. In fact, May 13th is one of the greatest evenings the concert hall of the Musikverein has witnessed. About 4000 flowers are thrown and the ovations last well over half an hour.

In Paris, on May 25th and 28th, Claudio Abbado conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe to mark their 20th birthday. The, very special, programme includes Schubert-Lieder orchestrated by various composers. These concerts, with Anne-Sofie von Otter and Thomas Quasthoff as soloists, are recorded and the CD reached the market in Spring 2003.

After that Abbado takes part in the Musical May held in Florence, conducting “Simon Boccanegra” (producer: Peter Stein) with the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale in the pit.

The 2001/02 season comes to an end with the summer tour of the GMJO (Gustav Mahler- Jugendorchester). This includes Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal” (in the Peter Stein production in Edinburgh and in a concert version in Lucerne) as well as concerts with works by Bartok, Ravel and Debussy.

2003

After several months rest Claudio Abbado offers two concerts in Ferrara and one in Reggio Emilia to the Italian public, all with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (February 2003).

In Spring he is awarded the Premium Imperiale by the Emperor of Japan. It is one of the world’s most prestigious prizes, distributed to artists worldwide.

In June he celebrates his 70th birthday, which is marked by numerous articles in the international press.

On August 14th 2003 he inaugurates the Lucerne Festival at the head of the latest of the orchestras he has created, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. This is composed of internationally acclaimed soloists who follow his views (Sabine Meyer and her Ensemble, Natalia Gutman, the Hagen Quartett, Emmanuel Pahud, Rainer Kußmaul, Kolja Blacher etc.) and members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The programme of the gala concert consists of works by Wagner and Debussy. This is followed by a concert of chamber music (Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos) and Mahler’s 2nd symphony. The success is tremendous and greeted by a press rarely so unanimous and enthusiastic. For all the journalists present the creation of this orchestra constitutes the beginning of a new era of classical music.
In September first broadcast of „Die Stille hören“ (Hearing the Silence), portrait by Paul Smaczny, which then goes on to receive several prizes.
In October concert in Ferrara with the MCO and Kolja Blacher (Berg, Stravinsky, Beethoven), concert which is repeated in Potenza (minus the Stravinsky) where a honorary doctorate is awarded to Claudio Abbado by the University of Potenza. He takes the opportunity to announce the creation of a Gesualdo Festival in Basilicata.

Journey to Tokio to receive the Premium Imperiale from the hands of the Japanese Emperor.

In December journey to Cuba , Dr. h.c. of the University of Havana – and a concert with a local orchestra as a token of thanks.

2004

February:

Grammy awarded to Thomas Quasthoff for the CD of orchestrated Schubert-Lieder (with Anne-Sofie von Otter, the COE and Claudio Abbado).
“Cosi fan tutte” in Ferrara, Modena and Reggio Emilia with the MCO and a young cast.
Also, concert in Ferrara including, amongst other works, Beethoven’s 3rd piano concerto played by Martha Argerich and the MCO.
Recording of “Sempre Libera” with Anna Netrebko and the MCO in Reggio Emilia, a CD which causes quite a stir.

April:
Tour with the GMJO to Bolzano, Budapest, Bratislava, St. Petersburg, Reggio Emilia, Trieste and Rome. The programme: Mahler’s 9th Symphony and (in some places) the “Abschied” from “Lied von der Erde” sung by Anna Larsson.

June:
Triumphal return to Berlin to play Frank Martin’s “Sechs Monologe aus Jedermann” (sung by Thomas Quasthoff) and Mahler 6th Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic.

August:
Lucerne: second season of the LFO with R. Strauss, Wagner, Beethoven, Mahler and a concert with the MCO (Hindemith, Beethoven).

September:
Concert with the MCO in Bologna (Mozart with Murray Perahia and Beethoven).

October:
Concert with the MCO in Ferrara (Ives, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy).
Big campaign (with a positive outcome) to enable Arte to be received free of charge in Italy.

November:
Creation of the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna, founded to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth in 2006. First successful concerts.
Prix Kythera rewarded to Claudio Abbado by Gabriele Henkel.

2005

December 2004/January 2005:

Intense activity in South America.
Journey with the MCO to Venezuela and Cuba for a number of concerts (Beethoven).
Formation in Venezuela of the Latin-American Youth Orchestra and first concerts in Caracas and Havana.
Receives the Cuban National Award in Havana.
Extends his contract with the Lucerne Festival until 2010.

February:
Claudio Abbado is granted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Midem Classic Awards in Cannes.

March:
His involvement in Cuba causes a debate in Italian newspapers.
Granted the Prize of the President of the Republic of Italy.

April:
Conducts (for the first time) “Die Zauberflöte” in Reggio Emilia and Ferrara with the MCO in the pit and produced by Daniele Abbado. Triumphant results.

Mai:
“Die Zauberflöte” taken up again, this time in Baden-Baden. The musical direction is much praised in the German press.
Second (no less triumphant) return to Berlin, this time with Berg (Sieben Frühe Lieder sung by Renée Fleming) and Mahler’s 4th Symphony.

June:
A series of concerts with the Orchestra Mozart in Italy.
Is named Conductor of the Year by the jury of the Echo Klassik Prize (for the recording of Mahler’s 2nd symphony and Debussy’s La Mer).

August:
Immense success in Lucerne with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (LFO) and a programme including Beethoven, Bruckner, Schubert and Nono.
Made a honorary citizen of Lucerne.

September:
Performances (and recording) of the Magic Flute in Modena.
Concerts with the Orchestra Mozart (OM) in Bologna.

October:
First foreign appearance of the LFO – in Rome. Roughly the same programme as in Lucerne. Great success.

November:
Concerts with the OM in Italy.

2006

January:
Concerts with the Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in Caracas (Beethoven 9th symphony et al.).

April:
Two concerts with the MCO in Ferrara and Reggio Emilia.
Easter Tour with the GMJO through Europe (Bolzano, Munich, Madrid, Vienna, Paris, Turin) and a gorgeous programme: Schönberg’s “Pelléas et Mélisande” as well as Mahler’s 4th symphony.

May:
Concerts with the Orchestra Mozart (OM) in Italy.
Return to Berlin for performances of Schumann’s “Manfred”.

June:
Concerts with the OM in Italy.

August:
Great success in Lucerne with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (LFO) – this time with Mahler’s 6th and Bruckner’s 4th symphony, amongst others.

August/September:
Takes up again the Magic Flute, this time in Edinburgh.

September:
Concerts with the OM in Italy.
Conducts the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra (SBYO) in Palermo and Rome, each time for half a concert, handing over the other half to the young Gustavo Dudamel.

October:
Visit of the LFO to Tokyo (Suntory Hall) with the Lucerne programme. Great success.
Takes part in Vienna in a memorial concert in souvenir of Thomas Kakuska (viola of the Alban Berg Quartet).

November:
Concerts with the OM in Italy.

December:
Concert of the MCO in Ludwigshafen on the invitation of BASF.

Awarded the prestigious Gramophone “Record of the Year” Award and the Echo Klassik-Preis – both for the recording of Mahler’s 6th symphony.

2007

2008

2009

January:

Concerts in Caracas with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, with Rachel Harnisch as soloist (Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler).

February:

The same, but this time with Hélène Grimaud (et al.) as soloists.

March:

Return to Europe, concerts with the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna and Naples. Claudio Abbado become a honorary citizen of Bologna.

April:

Concerts in Ferrara, Reggio, Torino and Bolzano (1.5.) with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The first two with Nina Stemme in Richard Strauss, the last two incl.  the Mozart Requiem.

May:

Annual return to Berlin: three concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic. On the programme Schubert, Mahler and (for the first time with this orchestra!) Debussy’s “La Mer”. The soloist in the first half is Angelika Kirchschlager.

June:

Concerts in Jesi (Pergolesi), Bologna, Florence and L’Aquila (Schubert, Mozart) with the Orchestra Mozart.

August:

Annual return to Lucerne for the concerts with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. This year’s programme includes Prokofiev, but above all Mahler (1^st and 4^th symphony).

September:

Autumn tour with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, this time to Peking. Four concerts in the National Center of Performing Arts.

November:

In Bolzano (31.10.) and in Bologna concerts with the Orchestra Mozart and the Bolzano Haydn-Orchestra (Berg, Bruckner). Then concerts in Bologna and Cagliari with the Orchestra Mozart to close the year (Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn).

2010

Claudio Abbado spends the winter in South America, in Venezuela to be more exact. There he conducts two concerts of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in February.

In March he brings this orchestra to the Lucerne Easter Festival. They play three concerts there, the others being conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and Diego Matheuz.

At the end of March it is with the Orchestra Mozart that Claudio Abbado gives some concerts, first in Rome then in Bologna.

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra gives two concerts (in Ferrara and Reggio Emilia resp.) under his direction in April. Yuja Wang is the soloist.

In May it is the turn of the now traditional return to Berlin. On the programme this time various composers, including Brahms and his cantata “Rinaldo”, sung by Jonas Kaufmann.

Soon afterwards Claudio Abbado is hospitalized and has to cancel his planned return to Milan, which everybody in the town was so looking forward to.

But he can take up his activities in August again and at the Lucerne Festival he and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra have a very special programme. First a concert version of “Fidelio” with Jonas Kaufmann and Nina Stemme (amongst others). Then Mahler’s 9^th symphony – which Abbado conducts like nobody else.

In September the Orchestra Mozart plays Bach in Bologna with Claudio Abbado (once on the Church San Stefano, once in the Auditorium Manzoni) as well as concerts in Modena, the Abbey of Morimondo and Jesi.

The annual autumn tour of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra takes them this time to Madrid and Paris – with exceptional performances of Mahler’s 9^th symphony.

The year ends with concerts of the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna and Ferrara. On the programme compositions by Schumann and (in Bologna) only also the Beethoven violin concerto with Isabelle Faust as soloist.

2011

The concert season starts late this year as it is only in April that Claudio Abbado picks up his baton again. Concerts with the combined forces of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra Mozart (for the first time together) in Ferrara, Bologna, Reggio Emilia and Rome together with Martha Argerich (playing the Ravel concerto) stand at the beginning.

In May, as usual, we are in Berlin, this time for two programmes. The first with (amongst others) Maurizio Pollini, the second to mark the 100^th anniversary of Mahler’s death. On 18.5.2011 Claudio Abbado conducts the Adagio from Mahler’s 10^th symphony and Das Lied von der Erde with the Berlin Philharmonic, Anne Sofie von Otter and Jonas Kaufmann.

In June Claudio Abbado conducts concerts of the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna, Ravenna and Brescia. With some soloists of this orchestra he undertakes an excursion to Spain to receive the “Don Juan de Borbòn de la Musica” prize. Still in June and still with the same orchestra he inaugurates the Teatro Farnese in Parma after its renovation.

The August concerts in Lucerne with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra comprise works mainly by Brahms, Mahler and Bruckner.

September holds in store magnificent concerts by the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna and Bolzano with in particular Schubert’s so-called “Great” symphony in C major. This is followed by the first concerts, equally excellent, of the orchestra in the Goldener Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna.

October takes us with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra to Baden-Baden, Paris and London. After that the Orchestra Mozart plays in Frankfort. Later Claudio Abbado will receive the prize for the best concert of the year from the Royal Philharmonic Society for his interpretation of Bruckner’s 5^th symphony in London.

A month later there are two concerts in Rome and Bologna of “King Lear” with music by Shostakovich. The Orchestra Mozart plays as part of its “Cinema Russo” programme.

Yet another month later, two days before Christmas, Claudio Abbado inaugurates the new theatre of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Brahms’ Schicksalslied and Mahler’s 9^th symphony. The orchestra is composed of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and musicians of the Orchestra Mozart. Thus ends an exciting year.

2012