Claudio Abbado

Piero Cappuccilli and Shirley Verrett lead Verdi’s sombre masterpiece, drawn from one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated tragedies. Filmed for television at Teatro alla Scala in 1979, Claudio Abbado conductes a night to remember.

For this performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3, recorded live in 2007 at the Congress and Concert Hall Lucerne, Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra are joined by the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and the Tölzer Knabenchor. The soloist is Anna Larsson.

The historic 1984 revival performance of Il viaggio a Reims was the first time in over 150 years the opera was performed. Set in a luxurious hotel in Plombières-les-Bains, the opera follows a diverse group of aristocratic characters as they gather to celebrate the coronation of King Charles X of France. Amidst the festivities, wacky antics ensue, romantic entanglements unfold, and the characters face various comedic and dramatic challenges, showcasing Rossini's masterful blend of music, comedy, and drama.

Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner.

Beethoven: Concerto N° 2 for Piano and Orchestra; Symphony N° 9

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Overture and Arias from "Don Giovanni"; Symphony No. 29 in A major K. 201; Scena and Rondo for Soprano and piano forte obligato and Orchestra K. 505; Symphony No. 35 in D major K. 385 "Haffner" Documentary on the Berliner Philharmoniker and Mozart in Prague.

Mozart did not write the Requiem as despairing funeral music for his impending death. Rather, the piece proclaims eternal light and redemption. Together with a first-class quartet of soloists, the choirs of the Bavarian and Swedish radios and the distinguished musicians of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado uncovers this more hopeful and forgiving essence of the Requiem.

The last and arguably finest opera of Modest Mussorgsky is captured in one of its most powerful interpretations in this 1989 recording from the Vienna State Opera, conducted by Claudio Abbado. A moody opera that is thematically broad at times and intimately personal in others, "Khovanshchina" tells the story of the 17th-century clash between Russian conservatives and Peter the Great's reformists. Among the singers is renowned basso Nicolai Ghiaurov and Paata Burchuladze, as well as Anatoly Kocherga, Ludmila Semtchuk, and Heinz Zednik.

Claudio Abbado conducts Brahms, Schoenberg & Beethoven - Lucerne Festival Opening Concert (2013)

The plot takes place in the Bay of Naples in the 18th century. Deeply convinced of women's infidelity, the cynical Don Alfonso provokes his young friends Ferrando and Guglielmo by impugning the constancy of their fiancées, sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi.

A film student in the midst of a moral crisis struggles to come up with a concept for his next short film.

A tribute to the great Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, who died at the age of 94 on 17 June 2025. An acclaimed performer of Beethoven, he leaves behind him a musical legacy spanning more than sixty years. His performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 at Lucerne in 2005 was a highlight of the festival, conducted by Claudio Abbado, another icon of classical music.

Sergei Prokofiev: Highlights from "Romeo & Juliet" Sergei Rachmaninov: Cavatine of Aleko from "Aleko" Ludwig van Beethoven: Romances for Violine and Orchestra No. 1 in G major, and No. 2 in F major, Symphony No. 7 in A major Peter Tchaikovsky: "The Nutcracker" Waltz of the Flowers Documentary on St. Petersburg.

Richard Wagner Overture to "The Flying Dutchman" Peter Tchaikovsky "The Storm" Claude Debussy “Trois Nocturnes” Giuseppe Verdi "Quattro pezzi sacri"

Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, op. 73 Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major op. 73 Documentary on Meiningen's history and the musical activities of Hans von Bülow, the great pianist and conductor

Claudio Abbado once remarked that, “With Beethoven, you never stop learning“ and indeed: the 75-year-old Milanese maestro has constantly reworked the symphonies of the master from Bonn (1770-1827). When they performed and recorded all nine Beethoven Symphonies at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the nationwide Italian newspaper La Repubblica simply called it: “The most wonderful symphonic cycle of the past decade.” Each of the symphonies is of course a masterpiece in itself – each represents the composer’s musical idiom at a particular stage in his development. Be it the famous Pastorale, his 6th symphony, the popular 9th, with its characteristic motifs, the less commonly performed 4th or the 7th, which marked his leaning toward romantic undertones – Abbado’s interpretations are the fruit of decades of involvement with Beethoven.

Claudio Abbado once remarked that, “With Beethoven, you never stop learning“ and indeed: the 75-year-old Milanese maestro has constantly reworked the symphonies of the master from Bonn (1770-1827). When they performed and recorded all nine Beethoven Symphonies at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the nationwide Italian newspaper La Repubblica simply called it: “The most wonderful symphonic cycle of the past decade.” Each of the symphonies is of course a masterpiece in itself – each represents the composer’s musical idiom at a particular stage in his development. Be it the famous Pastorale, his 6th symphony, the popular 9th, with its characteristic motifs, the less commonly performed 4th or the 7th, which marked his leaning toward romantic undertones – Abbado’s interpretations are the fruit of decades of involvement with Beethoven.

Claudio Abbado once remarked that, “With Beethoven, you never stop learning“ and indeed: the 75-year-old Milanese maestro has constantly reworked the symphonies of the master from Bonn (1770-1827). When they performed and recorded all nine Beethoven Symphonies at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the nationwide Italian newspaper La Repubblica simply called it: “The most wonderful symphonic cycle of the past decade.” Each of the symphonies is of course a masterpiece in itself – each represents the composer’s musical idiom at a particular stage in his development. Be it the famous Pastorale, his 6th symphony, the popular 9th, with its characteristic motifs, the less commonly performed 4th or the 7th, which marked his leaning toward romantic undertones – Abbado’s interpretations are the fruit of decades of involvement with Beethoven.

Claudio Abbado once remarked that, “With Beethoven, you never stop learning“ and indeed: the 75-year-old Milanese maestro has constantly reworked the symphonies of the master from Bonn (1770-1827). When they performed and recorded all nine Beethoven Symphonies at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the nationwide Italian newspaper La Repubblica simply called it: “The most wonderful symphonic cycle of the past decade.” Each of the symphonies is of course a masterpiece in itself – each represents the composer’s musical idiom at a particular stage in his development. Be it the famous Pastorale, his 6th symphony, the popular 9th, with its characteristic motifs, the less commonly performed 4th or the 7th, which marked his leaning toward romantic undertones – Abbado’s interpretations are the fruit of decades of involvement with Beethoven.