Memorial Concert for Claudio Abbado with Andris Nelsons, Bruno Ganz, Isabelle Faust

It was an appropriate and deeply affecting farewell. Anyone who was able to participate in these two hours will never forget the experience. The spirit of Claudio Abbado, the great conductor and founder of orchestras who died on 20 January 2014, was honored in music, words, and silence. With this concert, the members of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA remembered with gratitude an extraordinary man and friend who had invited them to help realize his highest ideal of performing orchestral works with the same degree of attention and devotion usually reserved for chamber music. At the beginning of the concert, the conductor’s podium was left unoccupied for the first movement of Schubert’s “Unfinished” symphony.

“Whether his spirit was actually present or the players were able to realize what Abbado – often through his presence alone – had conveyed to them; the experience was both fascinating and moving.” (Der Tagesspiegel)

“The emotional intensity was unbelievable: this could only be achieved by true musicians, by those capable of love.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)