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Claudio Abbado

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Conductor

The Resume

    (June 26, 1933-January 20, 2014)
    Born in Milan, Italy
    Principal conductor and musical director for La Scala (1968-86) and the Vienna State Opera (1986-91)
    Principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (1979-88)
    Principal guest conductor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1982-86)
    Principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (1989-2002)
    Made over 100 recordings, primarily for Deutsche Grammophon

Why he might be annoying:

    He fathered a son out of wedlock with violinist Viktoria Mullova.
    He often seemed awkward coming on and off the stage.
    His reticence prompted one critic to call him 'the most un-Italian of Italians.'
    He said, 'In America, there are wonderful orchestras everywhere, but I never accepted a position there, because I can't fight with the unions.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He expanded the standard repertoire to include modernist works by Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, commenting 'Musical history does not end with Puccini.'
    British conductor Daniel Hardy described his gestures on the podium as 'the most beautiful' in music.
    He loved working with young musicians, founding the European Union Youth Orchestra (1978) and the Mahler Youth Orchestra (1986).
    He said, 'A conductor must consider himself first and foremost a musician. The whole idea of the conductor as some sort of god or dictator is absurd -- especially as the age of the autocrat is now finished.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 119 Votes: 56.30% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 19 Votes: 84.21% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 29 Votes: 82.76% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 135 Votes: 52.59% Annoying