(dpa) - Italian conductor Claudio Abbado conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra during a rehearsal at the Beethoven festival hall in Bonn, Germany, 6 October 1999. Abbado studied piano at the Milan Conservatory with his father Michelangelo Abbado and later went on to study conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music. He won the 1958 Koussevitsky Competition, establishing him in Italy, and then won the 1963 Mitropoulos Prize, after which he rapidly became known internationally as an orchestral and opera conductor. Abbado first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in 1966, and

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(dpa) - Italian conductor Claudio Abbado conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra during a rehearsal at the Beethoven festival hall in Bonn, Germany, 6 October 1999. Abbado studied piano at the Milan Conservatory with his father Michelangelo Abbado and later went on to study conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music. He won the 1958 Koussevitsky Competition, establishing him in Italy, and then won the 1963 Mitropoulos Prize, after which he rapidly became known internationally as an orchestral and opera conductor. Abbado first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in 1966, and an important artistic relationship began which resulted in the orchestra electing him their principal conductor and their fifth artistic advisor in 1989. He has been their chief conductor ever since. Claudio Abbado made his debut at La Scala in his native Milan in 1960 and served as music director from 1968 to 1986, conducting not only the traditional Italian repertoire but also presenting a contemporary opera each year, as well as a concert series devoted to the works of Alban Berg and Modest Mussorgsky. Abbado also strives to encourage and support young composers and musicians. Claudio Abbado was born in Milan, Italy on 26 June 1933.