Riccardo Muti
, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI [1] (born July 28, 1941) is an Italian conductor. In May 2008 he was appointed the 10th music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, effective with the 2010-11 season.
|
RICCARDO MUTI TICKETS
|
Biography
Muti was born in
Naples, Italy, where his father was a doctor and an amateur singer; his mother was a professional singer. Muti studied piano in Naples at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella under Vincenzo Vitale. He was subsequently awarded a diploma in Composition and Conducting by the Conservatory "Giuseppe Verdi",
Milan, where he studied with the composer
Bruno Bettinelli and the conductor
Antonino Votto. He has also studied composition with
Nino Rota, whom he considers a mentor. He was unanimously awarded first place by the jury of the "
Guido Cantelli" competition for conductors in Milan in 1967. From 1968 to 1980, Muti served as principal director and music director of the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Since 1971, he has been a frequent conductor of operas and concerts at the
Salzburg Festival, where he is particularly known for his Mozart opera performances. From 1972, Muti regularly conducted the
Philharmonia Orchestra in
London. In 1974, he was appointed the orchestra's principal conductor to succeed
Otto Klemperer.
[2]
In 1987, Muti was appointed principal conductor of the Scala Philharmonic Orchestra, with which in 1988 he received the Viotti d'Oro and with which he went on tour in Italy and in Europe. In 1991, he announced his resignation from the Philadelphia Orchestra at the end of the 1991-1992 season.
Muti has been a regular guest of the
Berlin Philharmonic and the
Vienna Philharmonic. In 1996, Muti conducted the latter at the closing of the Viennese Festival Week in a tour of the Far East to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, and the
Vienna New Year's Concert in 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2004.
[3]
Apart from La Scala, Muti has conducted operatic performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as productions in
Munich, at the
Vienna State Opera (starting with
Aida
in 1973, followed by
La forza del destino
in 1974,
Rigoletto
in 1983,
Così fan tutte
in 1994,
Don Giovanni
in 1999,
Le nozze di Figaro
in 2001), in London, and at the
Ravenna Festival.
Muti is a regular guest conductor at the Vienna Staatsoper where he continues to conduct Mozart operas such as
Le nozze di Figaro
and
Così fan tutte
. He is to return to this opera house in 2008 with
Così fan tutte
.
A special relationship connects Muti with the
Salzburg Festival, where the conductor debuted in 1971 with Donizetti's
Don Pasquale.
In the following years Muti has been constantly present at the festival, conducting both concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and opera productions, such as
Così fan tutte
in 1983 and
Die Zauberflöte
in 2005 and 2006. Muti also owns a residence close to Salzburg.
From 2007 on, Muti is the principal conductor at Salzburg's
Pentecost Festival
. He conducts opera productions and concerts with his
Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra
.
In the USA, from 1980 to 1992, Muti was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which he led on numerous international tours. In 1979, he was appointed its music director and, in 1992, conductor laureate. Muti stated that his approach was to remain faithful to the intent of the composer. This meant a change from applying the lush "Philadelphia Sound," created by his predecessors
Eugene Ormandy and
Leopold Stokowski, to all repertoire; however, many of his recordings with that orchestra largely seem to do away with its hallmark sound, even in the works of such composers as Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and other high romantics. His sonic changes to the orchestra remain controversial. Some felt he turned it into a generic-sounding institution with a lean sound much favored by modern recording engineers. Others believe Muti uncovered the true intention of the works, which had been covered in a silky sheen by Muti's predecessor. Since his departure from Philadelphia, he has made very few guest conducting appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, most recently in 2005.
[4]
Muti has been a regular and popular guest conductor with the
New York Philharmonic. The orchestra's musicians have been reported as being interested in Muti as their next music director, both towards the end of the tenures of
Kurt Masur and
Lorin Maazel, but Muti had stated that he had no wish to take on the position with the orchestra.
[5] [6] On May 5, 2008, Muti was named the next music director of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), effective with the 2010-2011 season, with an initial contract of 5 years. Muti is scheduled to conduct a minimum of 10 weeks of CSO subscription concerts each season, in addition to domestic and international tours. He made his CSO debut at the
Ravinia Festival in 1973.
[7] In August 2010, Muti was named the next music director of the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, effective December 2010.
[8]
Riccardo Muti is married to Cristina Mazzavillani, who is the founder and director of the
Ravenna Festival. They have three children, two sons and a daughter.
La Scala controversy
In 2003, there were reports of artistic and programming conflicts at La Scala between musical director and principal conductor Muti and general manager Carlo Fontana.
[9] Muti did not attend the press conference that announced the new 2003 season. The appointment in 2003 of Mauro Meli as La Scala's artistic director was intended to calm the conflict between Fontana and Muti.
[10]
On 24 February 2005, the La Scala governors dismissed Fontana as general manager and named Meli as his successor.
[11] The musicians sided with Fontana against Muti at this point in the dispute, and on 13 March, Muti stated that he would refuse to conduct the La Scala orchestra from that point on.
[12] On March 16, 2005, the orchestra and staff of La Scala voted overwhelmingly against Muti in a motion of no-confidence.
[13] Muti was forced to cancel a concert prior to the vote, and some other productions were disrupted at the theater because of continuing rifts with Fontana's supporters. On April 2, he resigned from La Scala, citing "hostility" from staff members.
[14] [15]
Repertoire and recordings
With Philadelphia, his recordings include the first Beethoven Symphony Cycle made for compact disc, the symphonies of
Johannes Brahms and
Alexander Scriabin, selected works of
Tchaikovsky and
Sergei Prokofiev, as well as less-known works of composers such as
Giacomo Puccini and
Ferruccio Busoni.
Muti is considered one of the world's greatest conductors of the operas of
Giuseppe Verdi. He also led a series of annual performances of opera in concerts including the works of
Verdi,
Puccini,
Mozart, and
Wagner. In 1992, Muti conducted performances of
Ruggero Leoncavallo's
Pagliacci
with
Luciano Pavarotti. A recording was also made of these performances.
At La Scala, Muti was noted for exploring lesser-known works of the
Classical- and early
Romantic-era repertory such as
Lodoiska
by
Luigi Cherubini and
La Vestale
by
Gaspare Spontini.
Honors
Riccardo Muti was awarded a doctorate
honoris causa
by the
Universitat de Barcelona on October 13, 2003.
References
- Cavaliere di Gran Croce Muti Maestro Riccardo, quirinale.it
- Enough!
- New Year's Concert 2004, Vienna PO/ Muti
- Muti Returns to Philadelphia for a Reunion
- How America dropped the baton
- Philharmonic to Add a Position at the Top
- Riccardo Muti to be CSO music director
- Riccardo Muti andrà all' Opera di Roma
- Dumbing down row at La Scala
- New aria of peace at La Scala
- Recriminations fly as crisis engulfs La Scala
- Conductor downs baton at La Scala
- Staff demand Muti exit in latest La Scala drama
- Muti exits after a musical mutiny
- Curtain falls on unhappy Muti at La Scala