Gustavo Dudamel will dedicate the January 22 performance of the Berlioz Requiem (with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France) from the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris to the memory of Claudio Abbado.
Dudamel issued the following statement:
“ Claudio Abbado will always be part of the exalted group of geniuses in the history of the arts. His endless generosity and love touched me at a very early age and will be always one of the most valuable treasures in my life. It was not only me personally but more importantly our Sistema Nacional de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela that he embraced as his family. He gave to us his sincere love and his profound wisdom. On behalf of my colleagues and of Maestro Abreu, I would like to pay an eternal tribute to our beloved Maestro Abbado, with the faith that his spirit and his inspiration will be always with us. “
We have received the following notice from Bologna:
The chapel of rest will be held at the BASILICA DI SANTO STEFANO, BOLOGNA from 14:00 on January 21 until midnight January 22.
THE FAMILY ASKS TO RESPECT CLAUDIO’S WISHES and SHARE THEIR MEMORIES by offering a DONATION IN LIEU OF FLOWERS:
Centro di ematologia oncologia pedriatica Bologna
IBAN IT 87 E 0200802474000103019755
CODICE BIC UNCRITMM
Casa Circondariale Dozza
Giovanni Nicolini
IBAN IT78 W063 8536 7900 7400 0048 43S
coordinata bancaria internazionale
BIC CRBOIT2B
Thomson Smillie, former head of Wexford Festival Opera and Kentucky Opera, has died, aged 71. Full obituary here.
Tribute by Daniel Barenboim:
“Ich kannte Claudio Abbado seit Anfang der 50er Jahre, damals studierte er Klavier bei Gulda am Salzburger Mozarteum. 1956 absolvierten wir gemeinsam einen Dirigierkurs in Siena und seitdem verband uns eine lange musikalische und menschliche Freundschaft. Ich habe viele besondere Erinnerungen an ihn, zuletzt natürlich an seine Rückkehr an die Mailänder Scala 2012, als wir gemeinsame Konzerte hatten. Wir verlieren mit Claudio Abbado einen der größten Musiker des letzten halben Jahrhunderts, und einen der wenigen Musiker, die eine besonders enge Beziehung mit dem Geist der Musik hatten – und das über die Grenzen der musikalischen Genres hinweg. Besonders würdigen muss man seinen Einsatz für die zeitgenössische Musik und Komponisten wie Nono, Ligeti und Kurtag, die er auch an der Mailänder Scala während seiner Zeit als Musikdirektor aufführte. Einen ganz besonders großen Beitrag leistete Claudio Abbado auch mit der Gründung zahlreicher Jugendorchester. In dieser Hinsicht war er ein Pionier der während seiner gesamten Karriere mit jungen Musikern arbeitete, sie forderte und förderte. Dadurch setzte er ein Zeichen für die Welt: dass junge und unerfahrene Musiker mit der richtigen Einstellung und dem Einsatz auf dem höchsten Niveau musizieren können. Dies und vieles andere haben wir ihm zu verdanken.“
“I knew Claudio Abbado from the early 1950s, when he was studying piano with Gulda at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. We both graduated from the conducting class in Siena in 1956 and since then we enjoyed a long musical and personal friendship. I have lots of memories of him, most recently of course his return to La Scala in 2012 where we appeared together in concerts. We have lost one of the great musicians of the last half-century and one of the few musicians who had a particularly close relation with the spirit of the music, and one that went beyond the boundaries of musical genres. In particular we must recognise his commitment to contemporary music and composers such as Nono, Ligeti and Kurtag, whose music he performed at the La Scala when he was music director there. One of Claudio Abbado’s great achievements was to set up a number of youth orchestras. In this respect, he was a pioneer who worked with young musicians throughout his entire career, he supported and nurtured them. He sent signal to the world that young and inexperienced musicians can, with the right mindset and commitment play music at the very highest level. For this we must thank him.”
A statement from Sir Simon, issued by the Berlin Philharmonic:
“We have lost a great musician and a very generous man. Ten years ago we all wondered whether he would survive the illness which has now claimed him, but instead, he, and we as musicians and public, could enjoy an extraordinary Indian Summer, in which all the facets of his art came together in an unforgettable way.
He said to me a few years ago, “Simon, my illness was terrible, but the results have not been all bad: I feel that somehow I hear from the inside of my body, as if the loss of my stomach gave me internal ears. I cannot express how wonderful that feels. And I still feel that music saved my life in that time!”
Always a great conductor, his performances in these last years were transcendent, and we all feel privileged to have witnessed them. Personally, he was always immensely kind and generous to me, from my earliest days as a conductor, and we kept warm and funny contact together even up to last Friday. He remains deep in my heart and memory.”
A statement rom the Salzburg Easter Festival:
Christian Thielemann, the Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival, says: „I am very sad to receive the news of the passing of Claudio Abbado. I always admired how he managed to combine emotions and intellect in his nnterpretations. Abbado was an extraordinary opera and concert conductor and likewise a very sympathetic and modest colleague. His death means a great loss for the musical world.“
The great Italian maestro, whose death was announced today, was principal guest conductor in Chicago from 1982 to 1986. Solti looked upon him as a likely successor but the cards never fell that way, nor did subsequent interest from the New York Philharmonic lead Abbado to take up what America regarded as the summit of a conductor’s career – music director of a Big Five orchestra.
Abbado was managed by Ronald Wilford at CAMI but never showed the requisite ambition. Wilford reacted with astonishment when the Berlin Philharmonic players elected Abbado as Karajan’s successor (he had been pushing James Levine). In the music business, Abbado was often talked of as a maverick. What managers failed to understand was his fundamental idealism.
Abbado, the son of anti-Fascist resistants, was politically on the Left. He had friends in the Italian Communist Party and was no fan of the market economy. Not short of ego, he disdained the commercial trappings of celebrity and refused to promote his many recordings with media appearances. He was a misfit in America, a man who gave nothing away to the myth-making industry, preserving his integrity and thereby missing every available opportunity. He showed no sign of regret.
UPDATE: Andrew Patner has more here on Abbado and Chicago.
Franz Welser-Möst, music director of the Vienna State Opera and Cleveland Orchestra, has posted:
Ich habe Claudio Abbado 1986 auf Vermittlung der Wiener Philharmoniker kennen gelernt und durfte ihm eine Saison an der Wiener Staatsoper assistieren, genauso wie die folgenden Jahre bei von ihm gegründeten Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Das war damals eine politische Großtat, da ja der eiserne Vorhang noch existierte und Abbadao die Vision hatte die Länder der alten Monarchie wieder musikalisch zusammen zu führen.
Er war mir gegenüber nie der Star, sondern ein aufmerksamer, liebenswürdiger Förderer. Ich bewunderte seine Hartnäckigkeit und das “Anzünden” von begeistertem Musizieren bei Aufführungen. Er war ein phantastischer “Abenddirigent”, bei dem es oft in Aufführungen zu
überraschenden, emotionalen und umwerfenden Ergebnissen kam. Ein Denkmal hat er sich auch mit “Wien Modern” gesetzt, an das – wie beim GMJO- damals zuerst niemand so recht glaubte. Ich habe einen kollegialen, uneitlen und begeisternden Förderer meiner frühen Jahre verloren, der Wien und die Welt musikalisch stark geprägt hat.
I got to know Claudio Abbado in 1986 at the Vienna Philharmonic and assisted him for a season at the Vienna State Opera, and at the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra that he founded. This was a major political feat at the time since the Iron Curtain still stood and Abbado’s vision set the lead in bringing the countries of the old monarchy musically back together.
To me he was never the star, but an attentive, kindly mentor. I admired his tenacity and the way he enthused musicians in performances . He was a fantastic ‘on-the-night conductor’, giving performances of astonishing , emotional, stunning results. In ‘Wien Modern’, as in the GMYO, he created a monument no-one else could have conceived. I have lost a collegial, unarrogant and inspiring mentor of my early years, one who powerfully influenced Vienna and the musical world.
The auction house is selling off the furniture and knick-knacks of the early-music pioneer Gustav Leonhardt, who died two years ago this week.
A sample of the auctioneer’s patter: ‘It is not difficult to imagine the strong impression that Leonhardt’s students must have experienced when entering the house and being invited to play music in front of the great master and surrounded by his extraordinary collection. I only wish I had been there myself.. Read more here.
I have written a musical appreciation of the late maestro for Sinfini, based on a professional acquaintance that goes back more than 30 years. You can read it here.
Photo: Claudio Abbado at la Salle Pleyel, Paris, 20 October 2010.
© Fred Toulet/Leemage/Lebrecht
Further appreciation here.
As we reported at the weekend, Tugan Sokhiev has accepted the poisoned chalice. He will sooner or later have to give up one of his other jobs, in Toulouse or Berlin.
Sokhiev, 36, is a gifted musician who became music director at Welsh National Opera too soon, at 24, and has spent time recovering from that precocious mismatch. He is one of those who divides opinion in orchestras between passionate admirers and stony-faced sceptics.
The Bolshoi is desperately in need of clear-sighted musical leadership.
His agent’s press release follows:
We are pleased to announce that Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev has been appointed the new Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre with immediate effect for an initial term of four years. The announcement was made this morning by Mr Vladimir Urin, General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, at a press conference in Moscow. Mr Sokhiev, 36, succeeds Vassily Sinaisky and will also continue as Music Director of both Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (ONCT) and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester (DSO) Berlin.
“I have had the opportunity to hear Maestro Sokhiev on numerous occasions,” said Mr Urin, “… conducting opera at the Mariinsky Theatre and in symphonic programmes both with ONCT and the Philharmonia Orchestra. To my mind he is a highly gifted musician […] I was also struck by his willingness and passion to build a Musical Theatre according to his belief of what should it be today. As a result of our intensive discussions, I was delighted to conclude that despite our considerable age gap we share a similar vision. All of this was instrumental in guiding my decision to invite Maestro Tugan Sokhiev to take the position of Musical Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre–and we are thrilled to welcome him.”
Mr Sokhiev commented: “I am delighted to become Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre–one of the highest honours for any conductor. The Bolshoi has such a rich heritage and is one of the most prestigious Theatres in the world. Together with my ongoing plans with my orchestras in Toulouse and Berlin, I look forward to working with my new colleagues in Moscow and to many wonderful music experiences in the years to come.”
Alongside his new commitments at the Bolshoi, forthcoming highlights include his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boris Godunov in concert at Salle Pleyel in Paris with ONCT and concerts with DSO Berlin at the Musikverein, as well as returning to both the Berliner Philharmoniker and Philharmonia Orchestra.
Shortly before Christmas, Claudio Abbado returned home to die. After being given months to live with a stomach cancer diagnosis 15 years ago, he had outlasted all medical predictions ma y times over and enjoyed a golden autumn of indelible performances with the musicians he loved most, chiefly at the Lucerne Festival where he obtained the rehearsal conditions and affection he had longed for all his life.
In his final months he was named a Life Senator of the Italian Parliament. Typically, he gave away the salary to music education.
The loss of Abbado is irreparable.
He achieved the highest summit of music in Europe – artistic director of La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Phlharmonic – and stamped each of them with a facet of his principled personality. he was known for leaving jobs early on a point of musical principle. He was, in fact, the first music director of the Berlin Philharmonic to leave the post alive.
Much can and will be said about the quality of his music making.
At this moment, I want to remember Abbado the man: stubborn, inspirational, shy and with a smile that could melt glaciers. He was a maestro of the one-liner. Once, we were sitting in his favourite Italian restaurant in London and he saw on the menu gnocchi (potato pasta) with nettles. His face lit up and he began recalling his life in hiding during the Second World War. His mother would send him out with heavy gloves to pick nettles which she cooked with the gnocchi.
‘And we would eat it as a delicacy,’ he confided. ‘Sometimes,’ he added, ‘with a little cat.’
And then he collapsed in giggles at our mortification. He loved to laugh at his own jokes.
Italian media have just been informed of the death of Claudio Abbado. He was eighty years old.
More here, here and here.
