Claudio Abbado - a life in pictures

Conducting, 27 October 1966 Photograph: Erich Auerbach/Getty Images

During a break in a recording session at Walthamstow Town Hall, London, 12 February 1968 Photograph: Erich Auerbach/Getty Images

In Milan, 1979 Photograph: Mondadori/Getty Images

Conducting, date unknown Photograph: Jeremy Fletcher/Redferns

At La Scala in Milan where he was principal conductor between 1968 and 1986 Photograph: Erich Auerbach/Getty Images

Conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra during rehearsals for a tour dedicated to the work of Beethoven, 8 February 2001 Photograph: Riccardo Musacchio/EPA

Conducting his Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival 2005 Photograph: Priska Ketterer Luzern/Lucerne Festival

Conducting the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus for Mahler's Symphony No. 3 at the BBC Proms 2007. Prom 51. 22 August 2007 Photograph: Lebrecht Music & Arts/Corbis

Claudio Abbado and pianist Maurizio Pollini on the openair stage of Berlin's Waldbuehne, 24 May 2008 Photograph: Michael Gottschalk/AFP/Getty Images

Outside his home in Alghero, Sardinia 17 April 2009 Photograph: Mondadori/Getty Images

At "Vieni Via Con Me" Italian TV Show on 8 November 2010 in Milan, Italy Photograph: Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images

Rehearsing with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall on 10 October 2011 Photograph: Chris Christodoulou/RFH

Claudio Abbado and Mitsuko Uchida with the Lucerne festival Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, 10 October 2011 Photograph: Chris Christodoulou/RFH