Italian conductor Claudio Abbado, former musical director of La Scala, has died at the age of 80.
He also conducted the London Symphony Orchestra between 1979 and 1988.
He was also musical director of Vienna's Staatsoper from 1986 to 1991 and a guest conductor at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
After Herbert Von Karajan in 1989, Claudio Abbado was elected head of the Berlin Philharmonic by its members, where he worked until 2002.
He praised his "gentle manner, combined with a steely determination only to offer high quality music making, which delivered so many remarkable performances and recordings.
Mark Wilkinson, president of record label Deutsche Grammophon, said:
"The world has lost one of the most inspiring musicians of our era, a man who put himself entirely at the service of the music he conducted and, in doing so, made listeners feel that they were hearing it properly for the very first time."
Click below to listen to some of his best live performances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mck6R8M4iIIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdm8IfInaJg&list=PLtOw9-j-AAaRnDJ252sqV8TQn-xBAuJKS
