A concert "Chamber music for Claudio" organized by musicians close to Claudio Abbado from the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmoniker took place in Berlin on 20th December in the Church of Jesus Christus.

The Franco-German channel ARTE dedicates two transmissions to Claudio ABBADO on June 29th: 

http://www.arte.tv/guide/de/052696-000/in-memoriam-claudio-abbado 

- 5.45PM: Transmission of the tribute concert of 6th April 2014 in Lucerne with the LFO, Bruno Ganz, Isabelle Faust, Andris Nelsons.

- 11:25PM (on ARTE France) & 10:55 (on ARTE Germany): Transmission of the concert of 16th August 2013, last videoregistrated concert of Abbado (Beethoven Eroica), directed by Claudio Abbado in Lucerne with the LFO.

Memorial concert for the deeply lamented Claudio Abbado, under Daniele Gatti's baton, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, René Pape and Waltraud Meier.

Initially, it was Claudio Abbado who was supposed to be conducting his Mozart Bologna Orchestra at the Dresden Frauenkirche church that day. The conductor left us on January 20th, so a concert paying tribute to his art will be given instead. The famous Italian conductor Daniele Gatti will replace him and conduct the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, founded by Claudio Abbado in 1997. One of the most prestigious orchestras in the world, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra will be joined by the German singers Waltraud Meier and René Pape.

The concert will start with selected songs by Gustav Mahler, the brilliant composer whose pieces interpreted by Claudio Abbado and his orchestras set new standards. Richard Wagner's Die Walküre will follow and the concert will end with one of Claudio Abbado's favourites, what he would have liked to be his last piece recorded in a studio: Schumann's Symphony No. 3, the Rhenish.

The concert will take place in the wonderful Lutheran church Frauenkirche in Dresden and will be webcast live on medici.tv.

http://www.medici.tv/#!/memorial-concert-claudio-abbado-dresden

http://www.musikfestspiele.com/de/musikfestspiele/

To read on:

http://music.cbc.ca/#/genres/Classical/blogs/2014/1/Jan-Lisiecki-and-Adrianne-Pieczonka-remember-conductor-Claudio-Abbado

A TEXT (IN FRENCH) FROM LE BLOG DU WANDERER

Claudio Abbado was one of the greatest conductors of our time, no doubt about it. Music was everything for him. I remember when we went to Japan together with the Berlin Philharmonic – it was around the time that his illness [stomach cancer, diagnosed in 2000] had started, and I was there in case something should happen, I would take over the concerts. But the conducting, the music helped him. He was so thin and frail, but when he was on stage it somehow helped him. He did Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, complete: it was amazing. I think it was conducting that meant he was able to survive his illness for so long.

He was a very honest, and a really serious and profound musician. As a man, he was very shy and modest. I had great respect for him. We got on very well, and talked about all of life, not just music.

I admired very much his work with young musicians, he supported them so much, and did so much for musical young people. And the orchestra in Lucerne was wonderful: they were there because it was Claudio, and they were ready to play for him because they respected and loved him. The idea of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra was very interesting, but an idea isn't enough, you have to fulfil it – and Claudio did.