Opera Now March April 2000

Claudio Abbado was one of the leading conductors of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. He held a number of prestigious posts, any one of which would be a crowning achievement for a conductor, and his musical presence in both concert and recordings left an undeniable legacy of excellence. His family traced its roots to a prominent Moorish family expelled from Spain in 1492 and is said to include the architect of the Alhambra.

Neil Mullane Finn is a New Zealand recording artist. Along with his brother Tim Finn, he was the co-frontman for Split Enz and is now frontman for Crowded House. He has also recorded several successful solo albums and assembled diverse musicians for the 7 Worlds Collide projects.