Claudio Abbado: key dates
1933: Claudio Abbado is born in Milan, Italy, to a family of musicians with Sardinian origins.
1955: Finishes his studies at the Conservatory in Milan, where he studies composition, piano and conducting; and attends the Vienna Music Academy until 1957.
1958: Winner of the Koussevitzky Competition in Tanglewood; operatic début with Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges in Trieste.
1960: Debut at the Teatro alla Scala.
1965: Debut at the Salzburg Festival.
1967: Starts collaboration with Decca and Deutsche Grammophon, during which he records the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Mendelssohn and Schubert.
1969–86: Resident Conductor, from 1971 Music Director and from 1980 Chief Conductor at La Scala.
1978: Co-founder of the European Union Youth Orchestra and their Music Director until 1994.
1979–86: Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, from 1983 their Music Director.
1981: Collaborates on the founding of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
1982–85: Principal Guest Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
1986: Founder of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
1986–91: Music Director of the Vienna Staatsoper.
1990–2002: Succeeds Karajan as Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
1997: The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is founded on his initiative.
2003: Together with Michael Haefliger, he establishes the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, made up of members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with internationally known soloists as principal players.
2010: Mahler Cycle international tour.
2012: Voted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame, and is awarded the conductor prize at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.
2013: The world celebrates his 80th birthday.
2014: Claudio Abbado dies on the January 20, 2014, in Bologna, Italy, following a decade-long fight with cancer. The classical world mourns an irreplaceable giant.
