THE WANDERER'S CHRONICLE
N.19

CLAUDIO, CITIZEN OF LUCERNE
Marion Klinger













































































































Claudio Abbado, honorary citizen of Lucerne

Some impressions of the ceremony which took place in the town hall of Lucerne on 22nd August.

To begin with Kolja Blacher, who had returned especially for this occasion from a concert in Germany, played the Chaconne by Bach. A deeply moved Claudio Abbado thanked him.

Following that the mayor Urs R. Studer praised Claudio Abbado’s services to Lucerne. He wondered about who was really being honoured – Claudio Abbado or Lucerne. The town wanted to show its deep gratitude and give back a bit of all what it had received during the previous years. Lucerne felt very honoured because the conductor had accepted the honorary citizenship.

Mr. Studer emphasized Claudio Abbado’s continuous commitment to Lucerne, to which he has been returning ever since 1966. For many years he came with the Berlin Philharmonic, before that he conducted the Swiss Festival Orchestra and now for the past three years he has had great success with the newly founded LFO. In his association with this new orchestra Claudio Abbado’s special working method becomes apparent, his way of always searching together with his musicians for a way to convey the authentic and truthful meaning of a piece. There is never a preconceived idea but this is developed in a common exchange. During the construction of the KKL he was always at the disposal of the architect Jean Nouvel and the acoustician Russell Johnson if ever he was needed. Then he inaugurated the new house with the Berlin Philharmonic and now he has committed himself to Lucerne Festival until 2010. Thanks to the great interest the concerts aroused throughout the world and to the tours planned the name both of the Festival and the town will be known to an even greater public.

In personal words Mr. Studer then mused on what Lucerne might mean to Claudio Abbado, if he had any feelings of attachment to the town and what “home” meant for him. If it was perhaps a view of the lake, a bench on the lakeside, a restaurant or a picture or may be even the suitcase which went with him on his journeys. Possibly he feels at home everywhere where he is estimated and loved due to his work and personality.

Following this the actor Bruno Ganz, a personal friend of Claudio Abbado, held a very witty and polished eulogy. He described the KKL as a place in which music of the spheres can be heard – “at least when you are there” – and declared he felt like a “Swissmaker” today, like somebody who had to decide if the honoured really possessed all the attributes demanded of a Swiss. Apart from his artistic merits Claudio had also contributed to a raise in the gross national product – “ a feature which is of great importance here”.

That is also why, Bruno Ganz continued, the Swiss pharmaceutical industry and the chocolate industry invest so much money in music and not into the Swiss film “and that is why the Swiss cinema is what it is”, observed the actor Bruno Ganz slightly sadly.

It is true that the local inhabitants managed in a joint effort to build the KKL, but at the Bourbaki Panorama can be seen that they are also capable of immobilizing a whole army. Incidentally, in former days the population of Lucerne set off for Lombardy to earn money. These observations only so that Claudio knows whom he has to deal with in Lucerne.

The artistic collaboration with Claudio Abbado was not always very easy for him due to the fact that he had not much musical knowledge and could not even read notes. “Claudio went to great pains to help me, but with little success.” He had bad memories of “Egmont” in Berlin in particular:

“I stood there completely alone behind the whole orchestra and here he was always pointing in my direction with that terrible white stick. I never knew if I was meant or one of the many persons in front of me, the percussionist or the wind section. So I suggested they bind a small elastic band around my ankle and pull it whenever it was my turn. We finally solved the problem thanks to a small invisible lamp. In “Oedipus Rex” luckily I was allowed to speak on my own and undisturbed, but shortly before the end, in a breathing space, Claudio barged in with his whole orchestra...”

The actor also drew attention to the fact that a star in the firmament has been given the name “Claudio Abbado” by its discoverer, an astronomer. Probably out of the feeling and the knowledge that this is where Claudio has always lived – in heaven.

Claudio Abbado then offered his thanks in a low but very firm voice and in German, although that did not come naturally to him, as he observed. “I feel very honoured.” He then considered in greater detail his work with the LFO. He does not want it to be thought of as an orchestra like the Berlin or the Vienna Philharmonic. It is a group of chamber music players who play chamber music together, but with the difference that there are not five, seven or ten players but simply very many more.

Turning to Bruno Ganz Claudio Abbado remarked that the former had forgotten to mention the important information he had put at his disposal in connection with a performance of works by Luigi Nono (letters of contemporary witnesses which had been very important to him). Their next project is “Manfred” in Berlin – “there we must still find a way” (for the right cues).

“Perhaps you have done something very dangerous today” he continued, turning now to the town representatives, “because whenever I am in a town something changes”. And not always to everybody’s agreement.

At La Scala he had conducted works by Mahler and Bruckner and had seen to it that the doors were opened to a new audience. In Vienna he had founded the festival “Wien Modern” and given concerts with the Gustav Mahler-Jugendorchester. “In Berlin it was even worse. They invited me - and then the Wall came down”.

And here in Lucerne...? I do not know if anybody imagined beforehand that a work like the Prometeo Suite would be performed one day in this hall. And even if not all were happy in the hall the reception of the work was at least astonishing.

Moreover there are projects in Lucerne which could be trend-setting in the field of environment-friendly transport, i.e. ferry boats across the lake or cars which operate by electricity or hydrogen.

He would willingly agree to help here, for instance by conducting benefit concerts. He knows he is in complete agreement with Michael Haefliger in such matters.

Claudio Abbado then thanked Kolja Blacher especially: “I did not know that the Chaconne was to be played today. The piece is one of the first I often heard as a child (my father was a violinist) and it greatly impressed me. But I have never heard it played as beautifully as today”.


Follow the

Wanderer

Wanderer 19 (engl):
Claudio Honorary Citizen of Lucerne
Wanderer 18 (engl):
Bruckner and Beethoven in Lucerne 2005
Wanderer 17 (engl):
Magic Flute in Ferrara
Wanderer 16 (engl):
Cuba 2005 With Southamerican Youth Orchestra
Wanderer 15 (engl):
Cuba 2005 With MCO
Wanderer 14 (engl):
Lucerne 2004 (Abbado, Concert Beethoven Mahler)
Wanderer 13 (engl):
Lucerne 2004 (Abbado, Concert Strauss Wagner)
Wanderer 12 (engl):
Berlin 2004 (Abbado, Martin, Mahler VI)
Wanderer 11 (engl):
Two mad girls....
Wanderer 10 (engl):
Bolzano 2004: GMJO Mahler IX (Abbado, April 2004)
Wanderer 9 (engl):
Lucerne 2 (Abbado, August 2003, conclusion)
Wanderer 8 (engl):
Lucerne 2 (Abbado, August 2003, Bach)
Wanderer 7 (engl):
Lucerne 1 (Abbado, August 2003, Wagner-Debussy)
Wanderer 6 (engl):
Reggio Emilia (Abbado, february 2003)
Wanderer 5(engl):
Wonderful evening
(Rattle, Dec.31 2002)
Wanderer 4(engl): Summer 2002 with Abbado and GMJO
Wanderer 3(engl):May 2002 (Abbado on tour)
Wanderer 2(engl):
Berlin (Abbado, February 2002)
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