Acclaimed as “a conductor you want to hear again and again,” Roberto Abbado’s crisp, dramatic music-making, instinctive lyricism and evocative command of varied composers and styles have made him an esteemed conductor among orchestras and opera companies today. He is both a sophisticated and energetic conductor, which, combined with superb communicative skills have made him a favorite among musicians and public alike.
Mr. Abbado was honored with the “Franco Abbiati” award of the National Association of Italian Music Critics—Italy’s most prestigious classical music award—as Conductor of the Year in 2008 for “the maturity of interpretation and for his breadth and curiosity of repertoire” as evidenced by his performance and leadership in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (Teatro Regio Torino); in the contemporary opera Phaedra by Hans Werner Henze (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino); in Rossini's Ermione (Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro); and in the rare Der Vampyr by Heinrich Marschner (Teatro Comunale di Bologna).
A popular figure in the United States, Mr. Abbado enjoys an extensive relationship with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO), where he is an Artistic Partner, a position that has now been extended into an unprecedented third three-year term. He has performed regularly with the orchestras of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, San Francisco, Houston, as well as New York City’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
During the 2011-12 season, Mr. Abbado conducts Rossini’s La Donna del lago at Teatro alla Scala, a production by Lluis Pascual that he premiered at the Paris Opera in June 2010. He also conducts Terry Gilliam’s production of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust as well as a concert program of Verdi Requiem at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy; Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; and symphonic concerts in Milan, Turin, Parma, Bologna and Naples. In the U.S., he returns to the symphony orchestras of Atlanta and Seattle, in addition to a special “CSO Gives Thanks” concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where he made his debut in April 2011. Mr. Abbado continues his collaboration with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in programs that explore four of the five Mendelssohn symphonies.
Born into a dynastic musical family, his grandfather was a famous pedagogue of violin, his father was director of the Milan Conservatory, and uncle is Claudio Abbado, the esteemed maestro. Roberto Abbado studied with renowned conducting teacher Franco Ferrara at Venice’s La Fenice and Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, where he was the only student in the Accademia’s history to be invited to conduct the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia. As Chief Conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra (1991-98) he made seven recordings with the orchestra, and has worked extensively elsewhere in Europe including the Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Dresden Staatskapelle, Gewandhaus Orchester (Leipzig), NDR Symphony Orchestra (Hamburg), Vienna Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras. In his native Italy, he has particularly strong relationships with the great orchestras, and regularly conducts the Filarmonica della Scala (Milan), Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Orchestra del Maggio Musicale (Florence) and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI (Torino).
Mr. Abbado made his North American concert debut in 1991 with the Orchestra of St Luke’s at the Lincoln Center in New York. Since then he has returned regularly conducting many top orchestras. As a gifted accompanist conductor he collaborates with many of today’s most respected soloists including violinists Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Midori, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, and pianists Alfred Brendel, Yefim Bronfman, Lang Lang, Radu Lupu, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Andre Watts, duo pianists Katia & Marielle Labeque, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, to name but a few.
Well known for his work in opera, Mr. Abbado has led many new productions and world premieres, including Fedora at the Metropolitan Opera (New York); I Vespri Siciliani at Vienna Staatsoper; La Gioconda and Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro alla Scala (Milan); L’Amour des trois oranges, Aida and La Traviata for the Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich); Simon Boccanegra and La Clemenza di Tito with the Teatro Regio di Torino; Le Comte Ory, Attila, I Lombardi and Henze’s Phaedra at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; La Donna del lago at the Paris Opera, and Don Giovanni at Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Mr. Abbado is also well known as a passionate interpreter of modern and contemporary music. As a natural advocate for Italian composers, he frequently programs works by Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, and Gofreddo Petrassi, and contemporary Italians such as Sylvano Bussotti, Niccoló Castiglioni, Azio Corghi, Luca Francesconi, Giacomo Manzoni, Salvatore Sciarrino, and notably Fabio Vacchi, for whom Mr. Abbado conducted the world premiere of his new opera Teneke at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in 2007.
Not limited to Italian contemporary music, he also explores the music of French contemporary composers Pascal Dusapin, Henri Dutilleux and Olivier Messiaen, Russian Alfred Schnittke, German Hans Werner Henze and, in part due to his extensive travels among North American orchestras, an eclectic assortment of this continent’s living composers from Ned Rorem to Christopher Rouse, Steven Stucky, Charles Wuorinen and John Adams.
A prolific recording conductor, Mr. Abbado has made several recordings for BMG (RCA Red Seal) including award winning performances of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Rossini’s Tancredi. He recorded a recital disc of 19th century arias for Decca with tenor Juan Diego Florez and the Orchestra di Accademia di Santa Cecilia, titled The Rubini Album, and most recently a recital album titled Bel Canto with mezzo soprano Elina Garanca, on Deutsche Grammophon. Other BMG releases include Don Pasquale with Renato Bruson, Eva Mei, Frank Leopardo and Thomas Allen; Turandot with Eva Marton, Ben Heppner and Margaret Price; and a disc of ballet music from Verdi operas. He has also recorded the two Liszt piano concerti with soloist Gerhard Oppitz; a collection of great tenor arias with Ben Heppner and a CD of opera scenes with Carol Vaness, both with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. For Decca, he has recorded Verismo Arias with Mirella Freni. His most recent release for the Stradivarius Label is of two world premiere recordings by contemporary Italian composer Luca Francesconi – Cobalt, Scarlet, and Rest. On DVD, Deutsche Grammophon has released Fedora with Mirella Freni and Placido Domingo from the Metropolitan Opera New York; Dynamic has recently released Rossini Ermione from the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; and Hardy Classic Video, the New Year Concert 2008 from the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
Last updated January 2012. Contact Opus 3 Artists to secure the most up-to-date version.
