Marcello Abbado | |
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 Abbado in 1959 | |
| Born | (1926-10-07)7 October 1926 Milan, Italy |
| Died | 4 June 2020(2020-06-04) (aged 93) Stresa, Italy |
| Education | Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory |
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Marcello Abbado (7 October 1926 – 4 June 2020) was an Italian pianist, composer, conductor and academic teacher. His compositions include severalorchestral works, twoballets, numerous pieces for solopiano, andchamber music. As a pianist, he played in major concert halls of the world. He taught composition at several conservatories, ultimately at theGiuseppe Verdi Conservatory. In 1989 he was awarded the gold medal for Meritorious Culture and Art (Medaglia d'oro ai benemeriti della cultura e dell'arte) by theGovernment of Italy.
Born inMilan into a family of famous musicians,[1] he was the son of violinistMichelangelo Abbado [de], brother of conductorClaudio Abbado, and father of conductorRoberto Abbado and digital artist Adriano Abbado. He studied piano at theGiuseppe Verdi Conservatory withGianandrea Gavazzeni and Renzo Lorenzoni, graduating in 1944. He further studied composition with Giulio Cesare Paribèni andGiorgio Federico Ghedini, earning the diploma in 1947.[1]
As a pianist, his repertoire includedMozart's 27 piano concertos, played with theVienna Philharmonic,[1] and Debussy's entire piano works. He also performed keyboard music byJ. S. Bach andAlessandro Scarlatti, andpiano concertos, including those byTchaikovsky andProkofiev and Ravel'sConcerto for the Left Hand.[2] He performed in the major halls of Beijing, Budapest, Buenos Aires, London, Milan, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rome, Tokyo and Vienna.[2]
In addition to his concert activity, Abbado was also a teacher of musical composition at theConservatory of Bologna for twelve years, and also taught at theParma Conservatory. He later taught and served as the director of the Giuseppe Nicolini Conservatory in Piacenza (1958 to 1966), at the Conservatory "Gioacchino Rossini" in Pesaro (1966 to 1972) and finally at theGiuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan (1972 to 1996).[3] He was also a member of the board at theTeatro alla Scala for twenty-four years.[4] In 1993, together withVladimir Delman, he formed theSymphonic Orchestra of Milan "Giuseppe Verdi", of which he was the artistic director from 1993 to 1996.[3] He also taught masterclasses in Asia, Europe and the United States.[2]
His numerous compositions have been published by leading Italian publishers, including Carish, Curci,Ricordi and Suvini Zerboni.[2] Programs dedicated exclusively to his music have been performed in Japan, Russia and the United States.[2]
Abbado was the president and a jury member of international music competitions, including the Beethoven Competition in Vienna, Bösendorfer in Brussels,Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona, Ciani in Milan, Min-On in Tokyo, Obraztosva in Saint Petersburg,Rubinstein in Tel Aviv, andVan Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition in Seregno, among many others.[2]
Abbado died inStresa at age 93.[3]
Abbado's compositions include ballets, vocal music for choirs and solo voices, orchestral works and chamber music, often including the piano:[2][4]
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