Cloudio Abbado

As with just about all the Mahler symphonies, Abbado has made multiple recordings of the Fifth, but this, his first, remains his finest, and an exceptional performance by any standard. It has all of the famed Chicago virtuosity but also a welcome attention to detail and willingness to savor a phrase that you almost never find with Solti’s Chicago Mahler. It’s great to hear a coda to the second movement that for once does not sound anti-climactic. We expect the horn playing in the scherzo to be stunning, and so it is, but the music also has grace, charm, and plenty of atmosphere at an appropriately relaxed basic tempo that, as you can hear, leaves plenty of space for the big moments to expand.

The Fifth Symphony demonstrates Mahler’s principle of “progressive tonality”, moving from a Funeral March to a jubilant sense of triumph in D Major. In the course this monumental score, divided into three parts, Mahler juxtaposes the most extreme emotions and musical forms: learned counterpoint and simple country laendler, vociferous anger and grotesque fantasies, and grateful love and appreciation of Nature and human affection.

Newly remastered at Emil Berliner Studios. Abbado’s years with the London Symphony Orchestra resulted in three celebrated sets with the Spanish mezzo Teresa Berganza in central roles – and few could be more “central” than Bizet’s Carmen. Made in 1977, the recording followed staged performances directed by Piero Fagioni at the Edinburgh Festival. Berganza had studied the Carmen story, immersed herself in the opera’s background and delivered a characterization that emphasized the gipsy’s nobility, while Abbado’s conducting was both dramatic and vividly coloured.

Violinist Viktoria Mullova and son, the bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado in music they love - a very personal and affectionate collection of music ranging from traditional Brazilian folk songs to JS Bach, via Antonio Carlos Jobim and Schumann.

Dream Circus is the vibrant new album from London based double bassist and composer Misha Mullov-Abbado. His third outing with fellow bandmates, Dream Circus is derived from a place of deep imaginations that exudes all that is playful and joyful about this music.

The premiere of Nabucco at La Scala, Milan in 1842 was a huge success for Verdi and soon led to foreign performances of the work.

After hearing most of Abbado's Mahler, early and late, I had formed the opinion that he steadily improved, moving from caution to a real and deep understanding of Mahler's world. But just in case there were some early gems, I went back to this Fourth Syms. recorded in Vienna in 1978 (it can also be had in a bargain twofer with an almost equally impressive Sym. #2 from Chicago).

Announcing a rare new album conducted by Maestro Abbado – still much missed by many in the concert hall and the studio. Schubert remained one of Abbado’s favourite composers throughout his life and since his first performance in Den Haag in 1966 he returned again and again to the “Great“ C Major Symphony.

Deutsche Grammophon is proud to release this truly legendary opera recording from the golden age of stereo, remastered in 96kHz from the original analogue tapes, presented on HighResAudio. The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy Le Barbier de Séville (1775). The première of Rossini's opera (under the title Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.

This high-quality vinyl edition contains Claudio Abbado's unforgettable interpretations of Gioachino Rossini's overtures. Thanks to Claudio Abbado's brilliant inventiveness, these recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra are among the musical and stylistic milestones of the Rossini interpretation, presented here in an unprecedented recording full of care and sophistication.