The Abbiati Prize is the most prestigious music award in Italy. Established by the Italian Association of Music Critics in memory of the famous musicologist Franco Abbiati, the Prize represents the historic memory of live music, its trends and the work of its finest interpreters. The award of this prize gives us the opportunity every year to reflect on the quality of performances and concerts in Italy.

The Teatro di San Carlo has won six awards:

2002 – "Königskinder" by Engelbert Humperdinck

Performance prize: "For offering us this rare chance; for the quality of Jeffery Tate's work in bringing out the orchestra's characteristic chamber music skills and romanticism; the rigorous yet fantastic production of Scottish director Paul Curran (scenery and costumes by Kevin Knight); and the refinement of the cast, led by Olaf Bär and Juliane Banse along with the voices of the Tölzerknabenchor."

2002 – "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Singer's prize: "For Ildebrando D'Arcangelo's interpretation of the title role."

2003 – "Elektra" by Richard Strauss

Performance prize: "For the poetic intensity of Klaus Michael Gruber's directing and the extraordinary presence of Anselm Kiefer as set - and costume-designer who set the opera in a kind of monumental wreckage of Industrial Greece. The visual impact was immense and the tragic effect very powerful."

2004 – "Tristan Und Isolde" by Richard Wagner

Scenery and costumes prize: "For the visual allegory and exceptional accuracy of Ezio Frigerio's scenery; and the pictorial quotations and costumes by Franca Squarciapino that distinguished the production."

2005 – "Die Walküre" by Richard Wagner

Scenery and costumes prize: "For the scenery of Giulio Paolini, leading Italian Conceptual artist and creator of a modern, metaphorical system which gave breathing space to the particular setting of Walküre, the Neapolitan Theatre producing another valuable result from the interaction between contemporary artists, opera and ballet. For Giovanna Buzzi's costumes, whose stylishness and the relevance of their references to the late 19th century gave the performance's image coherence and depth."

2005 – "Elegy For Young Lovers" by Hans Werner Henze
(co-production with Ancona's Teatro delle Muse)

Special prize: "For the opera conducted by Lothar Koenigs and directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, a remarkable and fitting homage to this composer's best piece for the theatre and a valuable contribution toward the programming of less well-known works in the repertory."