The musical secrets of Claudio Abbado
mainI 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.
You say “The performance that springs instantly to my mind is the concert that opened his tenure in Berlin. It was Brahms’s First Symphony”.
That’s not correct. It was a programme of Rihm, Schubert, and, in the second half, Mahler 1.
See here: http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/geschichte/claudio-abbado/#2
This was a ceremonial opening concert that I attended. There was more than one opening to his era.
Nope. The Brahms 1 was performed in two opening concerts the following season, his second, September 1990 on subsequent days.
Correct. I was in the concert with the Mahler 1. It was his first concert as new principal conductor.
According to the BPO concert archive, which you can access here http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/konzerte/calendar/archive/, Abbado conducted two programmes with the orchestra in the 89/90 season. Neither contained Brahms. The site says the listing is comprehensive.
Well, there’s a recording of Brahms 1 from quite early in his tenure, so presumably a performance. Fabulous recording, BTW.