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Born in Milan, Italy, Claudio Abbado was the son of violinist and composer Michelangelo Abbado, and the brother of the musician Marcello Abbado. His father was his first piano teacher. Abbado's childhood encompassed the Nazi occupation of Milan. During that time, Abbado's mother spent time in prison for harbouring a Jewish child. However, his musical interests also developed, with attendance at performances at La Scala, as well as orchestral rehearsals in Milan led by such conductors as Arturo Toscanini and Wilhelm Furtwängler. At age 15, he met Leonard Bernstein, who commented, "You have the eye to be a conductor.”

Abbado studied piano, composition, and conducting at the Milan Conservatory, and graduated with a degree in piano in 1955. The following year, he studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1958, Abbado made his conducting debut in Trieste. That summer, he won the international Serge Koussevitzky Competition for conductors at the Tanglewood Music Festival, which resulted in a number of operatic conducting engagements in Italy. In 1963, he won the Dimitri Mitropoulos Prize for conductors which allowed him to work for five months with the New York Philharmonic an assistant conductor to Bernstein.

Abbado became one of the most celebrated and respected conductors of the 20th century, particularly in the music of Gustav Mahler, he served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, and principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra.

Abbado's first marriage, in 1956, to singer Giovanna Cavazzoni produced two children, Daniele Abbado, who became an opera director, and Alessandra. His second marriage, to Gabriella Cantalupi, produced a son, Sebastiano.

He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2000, which led to his cancellation of a number of engagements with the orchestra. Subsequent medical treatment led to the removal of a portion of his digestive system, and he cancelled his conducting activities for 3 months in 2001. Abbado died in Bologna on 20 January 2014 at the age of 80. One week later, in tribute to him, the Filarmonica della Scala performed the slow movement of Beethoven's Symphony No 3 to an empty theatre, with the performance relayed to a crowd in the square in front of the opera house and live-streamed via La Scala's website. Source: Wikipedia

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