As the endlessly sad news of Claudio Abbado’s passing broke on Monday 20th January 2014, heartfelt tributes quickly poured in from around the world: “a great musician and a generous man” (Sir Simon Rattle); “will always be part of the exalted group of geniuses in the history of the arts” (Gustavo Dudamel); “one of the wonders of the world” (Daniel Harding); “[Abbado’s concerts] weren’t mere performances of pieces of music, they were transformative existential journeys” (The Guardian).

'Sony Classical' is making available immediately the Claudio Abbado Gold Edition: three individual, budget-priced 5 CD box sets of Maestro Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic with pieces by Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Strauss, Schumann and Mussorgsky.