Claudio Abbado

"In recent years, it's been Claudio Abbado's Mahler that has attracted all the attention, but he has always been an outstanding Bruckner interpreter, too. Though he has never conducted a cycle of the symphonies, he has made Bruckner recordings sporadically through his career. This is his second version of the Fourth; the first, with the Vienna Philharmonic, appeared in 1991. But, like so many of Abbado's performances in the past five years, the radiance and transparency of this account, recorded in the Suntory Hall in Tokyo last October, lifts it on to another plane altogether. Part of that is undoubtedly down to the orchestra. No one who heard the Lucerne Festival Orchestra's debut at the Proms last month could doubt the quality of the ensemble Abbado has created from the cream of Europe's instrumentalists, or fail to marvel at the freedom he allows them within his over-arching musical ideas. It produces extraordinary results in this Bruckner symphony - perfectly paced, with every climax seeming utterly natural and unforced, and every texture as limpid as possible." (5 star review Andrew Clements The Guardian)

"Abbado's outstanding Decca Scottish Symphony is beautifully played and the LSO responds to his direction with the greatest delicacy of feeling, while the Italian Symphony has a comparable lightness of touch, matched with lyrical warmth. The vintage 1968 Kingsway Hall recording is freshly detailed yet full, with glowing wind colour." The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

“Claudio Abbado’s Magic Flute sounds like a breath of fresh air… Since his own near-death experience during a grave illness, every piece he conducts has taken on a sense of existential urgency, including the Flute. One has seldom heard the work performed with such a light touch and effortless fluency, with such feeling for dramatic refinement and with the characters so musically alive.” (Die Zeit, May 2005)

“An exuberant partnership between two of the most distinguished Italian musicians of the day.” - Penguin Guide