Claudio Abbado, 1933–2014
The Italian conductor who achieved a global presence
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The conductor Claudio Abbado was famously punctilious with all of the great orchestras that came under his baton. When he worked as principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the early 1980s, his incessant criticism during rehearsals that the musicians weren’t together inspired the musicians to wear T-shirts emblazoned with his Italian-inflected admonition: “Noddagedda.”
Abbado was no less demanding of himself, said The New York Times. “He almost always conducted from memory, insisting that using the score meant that he did not know the work adequately.” Born into a Milan musical dynasty, he was encouraged to pursue conducting when Leonard Bernstein remarked that the teenage Abbado had “a conductor’s eyes.” After debuting at Milan’s La Scala, in 1963 he won a one-year assistantship with Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic, and when he returned to Europe, “his career took off.” He was named director of La Scala and later of the Vienna State Opera, and was also principal conductor, in turn, of the Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony.
In the 1980s, Abbado was in the running to direct both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Instead, he was selected in 1989 to replace Herbert von Karajan as the head of the Berlin Philharmonic, which was then “probably the top job in music,” said The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). Yet he “remained the opposite of the dictatorial bighead that top-flight maestros are supposed to be,” achieving his signature sound for his beloved Mahler, Schubert, and Bruckner by quietly insisting on excellence.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
China: a superpower’s slump
The Explainer After 40 years of explosive growth, China’s economy is now in deep distress — with no turnaround in sight
By The Week Staff Published
-
Retirees’ biggest surprise expense
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
The United Auto Workers’ strike has put Democrats in a bind
Feature President Biden will have to pick a side in the dispute
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Legendary jazz and pop singer Tony Bennett dies at 96
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
Martin Amis: literary wunderkind who ‘blazed like a rocket’
feature Famed author, essayist and screenwriter died this week aged 73
By The Week Staff Published
-
Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk legend, is dead at 84
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Barry Humphries obituary: cerebral satirist who created Dame Edna Everage
feature Actor and comedian was best known as the monstrous Melbourne housewife and Sir Les Patterson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Mary Quant obituary: pioneering designer who created the 1960s look
feature One of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century remembered as the mother of the miniskirt
By The Week Staff Published
-
Phyllida Barlow obituary: renowned sculptor who was also an influential art teacher
feature The teacher and artist found her passion later in life, focusing most of her pieces on the instability of modern architecture
By The Week Staff Published
-
Chaim Topol: Israeli actor beloved for his role in Fiddler on the Roof
feature From military service to an Oscar nomination, Topol followed a unique path to stardom
By The Week Staff Published