Tomorrow - or today depending on where you live - anyhow, on June 26th, 1933, Claudio was born in Milano.
My Happy Birthday present will be listening to Schubert's Unvollendete on DG, where he conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, a band he created, handpicked every musician, and all of Schubert is available.
I wanted to post the cover but the 'attach graphics' function is still not working. I had a nasty word on the tip of my tongue, but Claudio would not appreciate my cursing on his birthday!
Maybe I'll curse yet, because I was told I had already posted this message, when I had not, but I copied it before I clicked on 'send'; learnt from experience how loused up GMG is today!
Now once more: Happy Birthday, Claudio Abbado!
Quote from: uffeviking on June 25, 2008, 07:36:49 PM
where he conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, a band he created, handpicked every musician
No, he didn't. The COE formed itself and the members were chosen by the founding members themselves from players who had been in the ECYO. But Abbado mentored them from the start, after all, he also was one of the driving forces behind the founding of the ECYO (now EUYO).
Quote from: uffeviking on June 25, 2008, 07:36:49 PM
I wanted to post the cover but the 'attach graphics' function is still not working. I had a nasty word on the tip of my tongue, but Claudio would not appreciate my cursing on his birthday!
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514%2B2lPqn1L._SS500_.jpg)
The only things I have of Abbado's are Brahms' Double Concerto (Stern and Ma) and Bizet's
Carmen (Berganza, Domingo). I have the day off tomorrow, so might have time to give one a spin.
But happy birthday anyhow! :)
Well, Dear Michael, I was close! I was kind of guessing and hoped you would show up and correct my half truth. Thank you. :-*
Do you have any or all of this DG discs?
Do you mean the Schubert symphonies, or all his DG discs in general?
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m?url=node%3D85&field-keywords=schubert+abbado
This is the link to Abbado's Schubert recordings I am talking about. :)
I have the set with all the symphonies, but none of his other Schubert recordings, like "Fierrabras" or the masses or the lieder. The Schubert symphonies are very good, very cultivated and warmly lyrical and textually interesting because Abbado had one of the COE members research and compare all the sources, like printed editions and the autographs, and that gentleman found a lot of minor and major discrepancies, so there are even some extra bars in Abbado's Great C major symphony. Still, they aren't my first choice when it comes to Schubert, as nice as they are to listen to.
It's good to see though that Claudio made 75 because he was terribly sick and nearly died. He has done a lot of good stuff. I have seen him often in Berlin, of course, and he was very good for the orchestra. They were very smart in choosing him as principal conductor after Karajan. That choice surprised everyone - there was much talk among interested people in Berlin and in the press about who of all the Barenboims, Mutis, Maazels, Levines, Mehtas, even Ozawas and all these other overhyped bimbos would "make it", but no one really thought of Abbado, yours truly included, but when it was announced that they had elected him and he had accepted, it was just so terribly obvious that he was the only good choice for the orchestra at that time. Funny, because I had heard some really outstanding concerts with him just before that, a fantastic Bartók program with the "Miraculous Mandarin", and several of the Brahms symphonies, but still, it occured to me no more than to anyone else that he would be the obvious choice for the BP. He had never made or had agents make as much fuss around his persona as many other maestri - but at the same time, make no mistake, Abbado is supremely well connected and the textbook example for the German saying "silent waters are deep". Not much happened in that corner of the "classical music world" at that time, especially after he was appointed, that wasn't sanctioned by the Abbado-Pollini mafia...
Still, he is one of the most competent conductors around today and in the last 3 or 4 decades, and he has left a lot of good work. One of the few really good Mahler conductors but also competent in many other areas of the repertoire, including modern music which he really championed in Berlin. I played "Gurrelieder" under him in the ECYO in 1988 or so, and that was great, a really impressive and lasting experience. His very quiet demeanor is very deceiving because he does know what's going on and which strings to pull to get things done and people placed or displaced, but at the same time, I have to say he always came across as a "really nice" guy when I had the opportunity to play under him and from everything else I have heard about him. But again, "silent waters are deep"...
I'll celebrate by spinning this tomorrow:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PXEDBV50L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
It is good news that he is still around; it did look like we would lose him a while back. The critics seem to detect all kinds of depth after his recovery that they could not find prior. For me he has always been amongst the best of the best and each time I heard him or was in choir when he was conducting was a highlight. Only one piece did not go so well, Bach St Matthew Passion. Apart from that, he has always provided an ace in the hole.
I have a fair few of his opera sets; a number of them are amongst my favourite versions. I hope he continues to conduct, though I am pretty sure I read recently that he was going to close his diary to presently unbooked performances.
Mike
As a huge fan of Abbado, I'm happy he is still around to celebrate 75 years on the planet. Maybe later I'll listen to his live Mahler Seventh with the Berlin Philharmonic--one of my favorite recordings of that piece.
Thanks for the thread, Lis!
--Bruce
Quote from: knight on June 25, 2008, 10:38:54 PM
The critics seem to detect all kinds of depth after his recovery that they could not find prior. For me he has always been amongst the best of the best
Same here, basically. I think what some say, that he has found "new depth" after his illness are pretty full of it. It may be that he did do a little too much in some phases in the 90s and not everything was as well reflected sand prepared as his best work. He did slide a little bit into an improvisatory mode sometimes in his later Berlin years when it wasn't completely clear if he just wanted to let things run freely or if he wasn't quite sure what he wanted himself. From that point of view, the forced hiatus did maybe change some things and after that he did only very few things anyway. But if there was less "depth" here and there, it was simply because he did too much, not because he lacked "depth" and needed to become seriously ill to find it.
Quote from: M forever on June 26, 2008, 02:01:31 PM
But if there was less "depth" here and there, it was simply because he did too much, not because he lacked "depth" and needed to become seriously ill to find it.
Although it might also be argued that every instance of
what is described as new-found depth of interpretation is the result of such a "stylistic reassessment" process; the illness and subsequent hiatus having been the instigator, in this case. :)
Happy birthday to Claudio Abbado, then - if somewhat belatedly on my part!
I'll give some of his Brahms a spin to celebrate. 8)
Quote from: Renfield on June 26, 2008, 02:22:56 PM
Although it might also be argued that every instance of what is described as new-found depth of interpretation is the result of such a "stylistic reassessment" process; the illness and subsequent hiatus having been the instigator, in this case. :)
When was the last time you opened Abbado's head and looked inside?
Euroarts published a fascinating and illuminating DVD about Abbado, Nono and Pollini titled A Trail on the Water. It's a film with contributions by Nuria Schoenberg Nono.
The writer of the back page says is better than I can:
"A Trail on the Water is a film about the links between three leading musicians: the composer Luigi Nono, the pianist Maurizio Pollini and the conductor Claudio Abbado....
M has mentioned the connection between Abbado and Pollini in his excellent and informative post above. This DVD will be very valuable for further exploring.
Quote from: M forever on June 26, 2008, 02:25:04 PM
When was the last time you opened Abbado's head and looked inside?
Certainly not earlier today, when I was arguing semantics. My comment was about whether the "new-found depth" claim and your view - incidentally quite close to my view - [edit]
might not possibly be one and the same. :)
Although on second thought, I should have written "the illness and subsequent hiatus having
hypothetically [as in, "maybe, if you follow that line of thought"] been the instigator, in this case" to make my view clearer. I grant you that.
Quote from: Renfield on June 26, 2008, 02:56:42 PM
My comment was about whether the "new-found depth" claim and your view
I don't have "a view" on the subject except that it's BS when critics say that but there may have been times when Abbado was just doing too much and maybe not with as much prep and reflection as he would have needed. But even then he never did anything actually "bad" that I recall. One time, he conducted Shostakovich' 2nd cello concerto with Ludwig Quandt, one of the principal cellists of the BP, and he had his head totally buried in the score and gestured around rather vaguely. But the orchestra got through the piece very well anyway and the solo playing was so incredibly good, nobody minded that Abbado obviously didn't really know the piece...
Quote from: M forever on June 26, 2008, 03:15:40 PM
I don't have "a view" on the subject except that it's BS when critics say that
Well, exactly.
And I wondered if the critics finding "new depth" and your finding he "overloads things less" (obviously my paraphrase) are incompatible. Not to say I'm uninterested in your observation about Abbado having been "doing too much" at times , which appears quite sound! :)
Quote from: Renfield on June 26, 2008, 03:26:55 PM
And I wondered if the critics finding "new depth" and your finding he "overloads things less" (obviously my paraphrase) are incompatible.
Yes, they are.
Quote from: M forever on June 26, 2008, 03:54:43 PM
Yes, they are.
Noted. Don't worry, I won't lose any sleep over the matter, either way. ;)
The difference should be easy to understand anyway. M says that Abbado didn't need a serious illness to find "deepness". He had already found it long before that and proven his "deepness" in many good interpretations. He may have gone through phases in which he didn't deliver his best, but that doesn't mean that he only reached his best form after the illness which is what some of those critics appear to suggest (and yes, I have read the silly "review" of Mahler 2 in which Hurwitz said that).
I am quoting myself here from another thread on conductors.
"Abbado wanted a well schooled sound, but not smooth. His French music sounded different in blend from his German music. He is good at building climaxes and sustaining sound, and demands a very graded diminuendo. Abbado: calm, communicated with a very expressive face and hand gestures. Did not talk about the music, stuck to the technical terms for what he wanted then expanded these. Like so many, an acute ear for blend. Liked eye contact to bring in sections or specific instruments.
He could become angry if mucked about by the orchestra, then would make his specific irritations known in a tense but very quiet way. Had a good command of the orchestras, who tended to watch him closely. He used a stick and was clear with the beat. He did not waste and of the time in rehearsals. Organised and a clear sense of the architecture of a piece. He conducted Act 2 of Lohengrin as a vast arc and an exciting and involving performance. This included the major debut of Rosalind Plowright, just before she made the Trovatore with Gullini. Abbado also oversaw a stellar Verdi Requiem with Margaret Price and Jessye Norman swaying in the Lacrimosa. He brought over from Italy a chorus coach who we were supposed to watch during the rehearsals and performance. We could not get used to him and found him a distraction. It was the only occasion I encountered this arrangement, which I was told was common in Italy. The performance has been issued on DVD. In rehearsal Carearas made the odd fluff. He started to blame the orchestra for distracting him by dropping pencils. For the rest of the rehearsal, Abbado had to suffer a plague of dropped pencils every time Carearas opened his mouth. Price sang superbly transcending an outfit that made her look like Miss Piggie."
We also were involved in a terrific Berlioz Te Deum where the only jarring was that the organ was piped in from elsewhere. This is where time was wasted in a sense, as it absorbed many precious minutes getting the sound through at all, never mind balancing it. The performance itself went well and Abbado's way with the piece provided forward momentum, but he never rushed. This is a piece that does not need to be mauled about and each movement unfolds by providing a sensible tempo and then surning the screws bit by bit, just exactly what he did. He asked for staggered breathing so as not to break some of the long lines of melody up.
At the rehearsals for the Lohengrin that I mentioned above, the offstage brass went a bit too far offstage, assuming they had done their bit, they left the building. So, Abbado cued them in, silence, then scurrying as someone went off to find out why the brass had not played. We then had a really impressive display of suppressed fury from Abbado. We had been well schooled in the etiquette when anything went wrong in the orchestra; we did not react at all or whisper to one another or smile.....the orchestras could get tetchy and certainly did not want to detect any reactions from us.
There was quite a row about this incident after the rehearsal, behind closed doors, and that is as it should be.
Mike
One of my favorite recordings of all is of the first two Bartok piano concertos with Abbado leading the Chicago Symphony and--guess who?--Pollini at the piano. :D In many ways it's even better than the "legendary" Geza Anda recordings; flawless playing from both orchestra and soloist, awesome dynamics and extreme energy under perfect control.
I'm also a great fan of the Schubert symphonic cycle, which I've only heard over the radio.
Happy Belated Birthday, Maestro!
Quote from: jochanaan on June 29, 2008, 08:34:51 AM
One of my favorite recordings of all is of the first two Bartok piano concertos with Abbado leading the Chicago Symphony and--guess who?--Pollini at the piano. :D In many ways it's even better than the "legendary" Geza Anda recordings; flawless playing from both orchestra and soloist, awesome dynamics and extreme energy under perfect control.
Oh yes, I love that recording, too (and my first exposure to those two concertos). I've gotten to like other versions of them in the meantime, but I do like Pollini's way with these, especially in No. 1.
--Bruce
One of the undoubtedly finest today. His championing of Mussorgsky should be mentioned.