Claudio Abbado’s complete recordings with the Berliner Philharmoniker on Deutsche Grammophon: a 60-CD limited edition original jacket collection.

Includes the complete Brahms and Beethoven symphony cycles, and celebrated collaborations with Martha Argerich, Bryn Terfel, Maurizio Pollini, Evegny Kissin, Roberto Alagna, Christine Schäfer, Alfred Brendel, Viktoria Mullova, Gil Shaham, and Renée Fleming.

That it was the musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker themselves who had elected him as chief conductor was of the utmost importance to Abbado. After decades of an unbending rostrum authority like Herbert von Karajan, it was Abbado’s ideal to make “chamber music with the orchestra” – in other words, to listen closely to each other and to respond flexibly. Abbado rejuvenated the orchestra, expanded its repertoire, and eliminated the smooth, unified sound that had crept in during the final years under Karajan. Abbado also opened up programming in a spectacular way. Among Abbado’s beliefs was that the secrets of music should be constantly explored anew, which he did by always shedding light on the lesser known works in a composer’s oeuvre and extant fragments of unknown works.

After his severe illness in 2000, Abbado led the orchestra for another two seasons before stepping down as Artistic Director of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2002. Abbado’s tenure with the Berliner Philharmonic can be considered as one of the highlights in the orchestra’s history and many of their recordings together remain unsurpassed on record. Abbado inspired levels of commitment and communication from his musicians that resulted in performances and recordings that stand the test of time.

130pp booklet (E/D/I) includes new notes from Julia Spinola