Claudio Abbado

“In Carmignola, [Abbado] has an ideal soloist, prepared to rethink these delightful works, as well as the great Sinfonia Concertante, with violin and viola solos in the light of scholarly research and reappraisal. The results are little short of revelatory, especially in the concertos’ and Sinfonia’s fast outer movements. They scamper along at Carmignola’s vivacious tempi and provoke dazzling feats of virtuosity from the orchestral accompaniments, which sometimes sound polite. The soloist’s tone is bright and sweet (but never saccharine), and Abbado’s Bolognese band is already clearly a crack ensemble — the principal viola, Danusha Waskiewicz, brings lustrous tone and bravura to the Sinfonia’s second solo part, and it is a long time since I have heard such exhilarating, devil-may-care playing in the famous “Turkish” Rondo of the A major concerto. A marvellous set.” Sunday Times, 20th July 2008 ****

“Carmignola, renowned for his Baroque, is a clean interpreter of Mozart's violin concertos, his sweet-sounding strings flitting in well-matched dialogue with the attentive period detailing of Abbado's young ensemble.” The Times, 19th July 2008 ****

“[The conducting is] almost miraculous, with its exuberant, lively tempi, perfectly balanced lighter-than-air textures, and exquisite attention to the smallest details of phrasing and articulation. The sense of the players listening as intently to each other as they do to following Abbado's directions is obvious in every bar... There are a few moments in the violin concertos, and especially in the Sinfonia Concertante, when the music could benefit from a little more room to breathe, though Abbado and his soloists do show that the slow movement of the Sinfonia doesn't need to be taken as an indulgent adagio to weave its magical spell.” The Guardian, 18th July 2008 ****

“Complete technical fluidity, at the service of a lively musical imagination, backed up by some superbly shaped orchestral playing under Abbado.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 *****

“Mozart-conducting and interpretation are in the realms of greatness.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008

"In recent years, it's been Claudio Abbado's Mahler that has attracted all the attention, but he has always been an outstanding Bruckner interpreter, too. Though he has never conducted a cycle of the symphonies, he has made Bruckner recordings sporadically through his career. This is his second version of the Fourth; the first, with the Vienna Philharmonic, appeared in 1991. But, like so many of Abbado's performances in the past five years, the radiance and transparency of this account, recorded in the Suntory Hall in Tokyo last October, lifts it on to another plane altogether. Part of that is undoubtedly down to the orchestra. No one who heard the Lucerne Festival Orchestra's debut at the Proms last month could doubt the quality of the ensemble Abbado has created from the cream of Europe's instrumentalists, or fail to marvel at the freedom he allows them within his over-arching musical ideas. It produces extraordinary results in this Bruckner symphony - perfectly paced, with every climax seeming utterly natural and unforced, and every texture as limpid as possible." (5 star review Andrew Clements The Guardian)

“Claudio Abbado’s Magic Flute sounds like a breath of fresh air… Since his own near-death experience during a grave illness, every piece he conducts has taken on a sense of existential urgency, including the Flute. One has seldom heard the work performed with such a light touch and effortless fluency, with such feeling for dramatic refinement and with the characters so musically alive.” (Die Zeit, May 2005)

Abbado remains the high priest of Mahler, the man with the key to a unique kind of beauty with these musicians. It's almost a religion. If you hear it, you're converted. The Financial Times, June 2004.