Claudio Abbado

One of the top conductors of the 20th century, Claudio Abbado left an enormous recording catalog covering a wide range of composers from the Classical era to the early modern period. He was chief conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1989 to 2002. Abbado was born in Milan, Italy, on June 26, 1933, into an old family that traced its roots to Moorish-era Spain. His father, Michelangelo Abbado, was a prominent violinist and a professor at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, and his mother, Maria Carmela Savagnone, was a skilled pianist. Abbado an...