Word: abbado
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...long, the myth that great age is required for great musicmaking has been accepted uncritically by audiences, performers and boards of directors alike. Now, with the surprising appointment of Claudio Abbado, 56, to succeed the late Herbert von Karajan at the august Berlin Philharmonic, and the even more unexpected engagement of Finland's Esa-Pekka Salonen, 31, to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic, two new generations are finally laying claim to the world's great orchestras. Coming shortly after the selection of Myung-Whun Chung, 36, to lead the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, the appointments indicate a fresh...
...deny that the choices are sound ones. Abbado is a conductor of great range, equally at home, as Karajan was, in opera and symphonic music. His repertoire, however, is wider than Karajan's largely meat-and-potatoes Central European diet. "Musical history does not end with Puccini," Abbado declared after his election by the self-governing orchestra. Salonen, whose photogenic, blond good looks are sure to be an asset in image-conscious Los Angeles, is even more adventurous. "The Salonen appointment in Los Angeles indicates an orchestra possibly trying to change the image of what an orchestra might be about...
...chairs. It happened a few years ago when Previn left the Pittsburgh Symphony; Lorin Maazel quit the Vienna State Opera and landed in Pittsburgh; Riccardo Muti, 47, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, added the directorship of La Scala in Milan to his resume; La Scala's former leader, Claudio Abbado, 55, headed for Vienna. About the only one who did not go anywhere then was the New York Metropolitan Opera's James Levine...
MENDELSSOHN: Five Symphonies; Three Overtures. Claudio Abbado conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon; 4 LPs or CDs). Imagine the history of 19th century music if Felix Mendelssohn had been the great romantic icon instead of Beethoven. In place of egocentric storms there would be grace and lucidity; instead of anguish there would be serenity and inner peace. The masterpieces produced by such disparate composers as Brahms, Wagner and Mahler % under Beethoven's spell are justly prized, of course, but the romantics could have used a little less irascibility and more agreeability...
...Abbado and the London Symphony more than do justice to this underrated composer (Mendelssohn's reputation has still to recover fully from the damage the Nazis did to it), offering crisp, incisive performances. The "Italian" Symphony explodes in a burst of melody, its irresistible opening theme a shout of joy, its finale a whirling saltarello. But Abbado is just as persuasive in the Symphony No. 2, a religious choral work subtitled Hymn of Praise. Although structurally similar to Beethoven's Ninth, Mendelssohn's symphony is its emotional antithesis: calm where Beethoven is uneasy, confident where Beethoven is questioning, sacred where...