About this Artist
A compelling, sophisticated, and energetic force on the podium, conductor ROBERTO ABBADO's communicative skills with musicians and audiences have allowed him to expand his orchestral relationships worldwide. A popular figure in the United States, Abbado continues to perform regularly with such orchestras as the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Houston Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra, to name a few.
This 2003/04 season, Maestro Abbado appears with seven renowned orchestras across the United States in subscription series, including November 2003 performances with the symphonies of Seattle and San Francisco in addition to these concerts in Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Orchestra in December 2003, the St. Louis Symphony in January and February 2004, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in March, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in April. International orchestral engagements this season include the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano "Giuseppe Verdi" in January 2004,
the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in February, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife in April, and the Helsinki Philharmonic in May.
Equally established in the operatic arena, where he has conducted many new productions and world premieres, Abbado's operatic credits include the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Vienna Staatsoper, Paris's Bastille, Zurich Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Having recorded for BMG (RCA Red Seal), Roberto Abbado's CDs include complete recordings of I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Don Pasquale, and Turandot, as well as a CD of ballet music from Verdi operas. He has also recorded the two Liszt Piano Concer-tos with Gerhard Oppitz; a collection of tenor arias with Ben Heppner and a CD of opera scenes with Carol Vaness. For Decca, he has recorded Verismo Arias with Mirella Freni.
Abbado studied conducting with Franco Ferrara at La Fenice and at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, where he was honored to be the only student in the Academy's history to be invited to conduct the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia. From 1991 to 1998, Abbado served as Chief Conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, recording seven CDs with the orchestra during his tenure. In 1991, he made his North American concert debut at New York's Lincoln Center with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.