Claudio Abbado

His father was the renowned violinist and music teacher Michelangelo Abbado. He is the brother of the composer Marcello Abbado and therefore uncle of the conductor Roberto Abbado. After school, Abbado studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. From 1956 to 1968 he was married to Giovanna Cavazzoni. Together they became parents to the theater manager Alessandra Abbado and the opera director Daniele Abbado. In 1957 he moved to Vienna, where he went to school with conductor teacher Hans Swarowsky. In 1968, Abbado began working for the Milan opera house "Scala", where he worked in various functions until 1986. The conductor was committed to opening up the so-called "high culture" to the common people, who had once been the audience and protagonists of traditional Italian opera. From 1979 to 1988, Abbado was also principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Replaced by Riccardo Muti at the helm of La Scala in Milan, Abbado moved to Vienna in 1986 to take over the managem