Farewell to a most honoured friend
©Peter Fischei Lucerne Festival
The death of Claudio Abbado
The Society of Music Lovers in Vienna mourns the
loss of its Honorary Member Claudio Abbado. While
still a student, Claudio Abbado appeared as a
member of the Singverein of the Society of Music
Lovers in Vienna on the stage of the Großer
Musikvereinssaal. He gave his debut performance
here in 1966 with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra,
after which over 200 concerts followed, among
them conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, the
London Symphony Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler
Youth Orchestra which he founded, the Chamber
Orchestra of Europe and the Berlin Philharmonic.
Claudio Abbado bade farewell to his Berliners
in 2002 with a concert in the Golden Hall as the
orchestra's Chief Conductor. In latter years, and
most recently in autumn 2012, Claudio Abbado
appeared regularly as a guest conductor at the
Musikverein with his Orchestra Mozart Bologna and
with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. The close
connection and deep friendship forged between the
Italian Maestro and the Society of Music Lovers
was given outward expression when Claudio Abbado
was awarded honorary membership of the Musikverein in 1991.
