Giulini started out as a viola player in Italy, and remembers playing under Klemperer, Furtwangler, Walter and even Richard Strauss He made his debut as a conductor in Rome in 1944 and by 1953 was ready to succeed de Sabata at La Scala, Milan Over the years he has held posts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and worked with many others Although for many years an outstanding conductor of Italian opera, from 1967 onwards Giulini decided to focus instead on the concert repertory where he could have more control and less need for compromise Giulini refuses to conduct music he doesn't genuinely "feel" and for this reason has avoided much avant-garde music, although he has conducted Webern's orchestral works Always feeling the necessity to "fathom" each new work, it wasn't until the 1960s that he finally felt ready to conduct Bach, or the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven From the early 1970s onwards he has conducted less and less, using the time instead to explore other things, walk, read books and spend time with his family