We are deeply saddened to bid farewell to our founding mentor and longtime musical friend Claudio Abbado. His unique approach to music inspired us to found the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in 1997. His active support allowed our dream to become a reality. We remember with gratitude the moments we were able to share with him.
These included many summer weeks at the opera festival in Aix-en-Provence, where we made our international breakthrough in 1998 under his direction; our regular visits to the northern Italian city of Ferrara, where Claudio helped us to find our second home; concerts in Vienna, Rome, Baden-Baden, Tokyo, Moscow, Paris and many other cities across the world; summers in Lucerne, where Claudio invited us to play as the core of his Lucerne Festival Orchestra. In Lucerne we shared our last concert together on 26 August 2013 with Schubert's Unfinished Symphony and Bruckner's Symphony no.9. It was a moving and memorable evening. It would remain Claudio's last concert. This morning, Claudio took his leave from us. He affected each of us individually and our orchestra as a whole. His musical legacy lives on.
Some words from MCO musicians
I am deeply saddened by the news of Claudio Abbado's death this morning. It has been a great privilege to play in so many of his concerts during the last twenty years and to experience his unique magic on stage, always pushing each musician to their limit but rewarding them with untouchable experiences full of exhilaration and wonder. I thank him with all my heart, a huge influence in the musical life of so many who were lucky enough to come into contact with him. A great man who leaves behind him a great legacy.
Mark Hampson, Founding member and member of the orchestra board
Today is the saddest day of my musical life.
I met Claudio 20 years ago in the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester, and from that moment on, nothing was ever the same for me. Making music together took an entire new dimension with Claudio, and what we all felt during these concerts transformed us. For the following 20 years, the art of ensemble playing was at the heart of everything we did together. Every opera and concert performance was a magical moment where listening to each other was the source of music. Claudio was the MCO's father, he believed in us, supported us, encouraged us. With Claudio we became idealists, and he will continue to inspire us in everything we do.
Geoffroy Schied, Founding member and member of the orchestra board
I am deeply saddened by this news, and I still cannot believe that Claudio is gone. He has had such a decisive influence on my musical career and therefore also on my life that it is difficult to describe. Claudio opened many doors for me and opened up new horizons, especially in that he gave us such strong support in the founding of the MCO and brought us innumerable invaluable and unforgettable musical highlights over the course of one and a half decades of MCO history. For all of this, I am inexpressibly grateful. We will sorely miss Claudio and our work with him. But his musical spirit will continue to accompany us in our music-making and in our vivid memories of him.
Henja Semmler, Founding member
Claudio gave each of us a new understanding of what it is to make music together and to listen to one another, and so in all of our sadness a feeling of gratitude and admiration prevails. How many concerts and opera performances did we experience with him, how much trust did he place in us, how much involvement did he show in following the development of the MCO and of each individual musician – I am so grateful that, as a member of the GMJO and the MCO, I was able to be a small part of his musical environment.
Annette zu Castell, Founding member
Claudio's huge musical influence played a big part in our becoming a real orchestra. He often pointed us in the right direction, he invited us to do projects with him that were so intensely fulfilling that we still talk about them today, and he introduced us to Daniel Harding, our first music director. But he also formed us as musicians. What a wealth of wonderful memories and so many of them connected to why we wanted to become musicians in the first place. Because so much of what we do today as an orchestra is inspired by him he will always be with us and we will always be conscious of the privilege and the responsibility of being one of his creations. What a sad and yet soothing thought that we all played in his last concert! How incredibly sad that this era has come to an end. And yet a feeling of profound gratitude to Claudio and to the sheer fact of having known him will prevail!
Philipp von Steinaecker, Founding member
COMMENTS