On January 20 local time in Italy, the contemporary conductor Claudio Abbado passed away at his age of 80. Born in 1933, Claudio Abbado was expert in symphony, especially works by Beethoven and Mahler. Once as the chief conductor of Vienne Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic, he was considered to be the new “Emperor” in the wake of Karajoannes. In his old age, Abbado was in charge of Swiss Luzern Music Festival and its high level and extensive influence aroused global attention. 

It was in 1973 that Master Abbado came into the vision of Chinese people for the first time by presenting New Year Concert together with Vienne Philharmonic to local audiences in Beijing. However, his popularity among every Chinese household is attributed to the New Year Concert of Vienne in the 1990s live broadcast by CCTV. His last acquaintance with Beijing was his efforts to bring Luzern Music Festival into the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA). On that occasion, he dedicated four symphony concerts and two chamber music concerts in succession to musical fans in Beijing.