Riccardo Muti: Difference between revisions

Riccardo Muti OMRI
Muti in 2008
Born	(1941-07-28) 28 July 1941 (age 82) Naples, Italy
Alma mater	Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella Milan Conservatory
Occupation	Conductor
Years active	1963–present
Spouse	Cristina Mazzavillani (m. 1969)
Children	3

Riccardo Muti,

A prolific recording artist, Muti has received numerous honours and awards, including two Grammy Awards. He is especially associated with the music of Giuseppe Verdi. Among the world's leading conductors, in a 2015 Bachtrack poll, he was ranked by music critics as the world's fifth best living conductor.^[1]

Childhood and education

Muti was born in Naples but he spent his early childhood in Molfetta, near Bari, in the long region of Apulia on Italy's southern Adriatic coast. His father, Domenico, was a pathologist in Molfetta, as well as an amateur singer and great music lover; his mother, Gilda, a reserved and severe Neapolitan woman with five children.^[2][3]

Muti graduated from Liceo classico (Classical Lyceum) Vittorio Emanuele II in Naples, then studied piano at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella under Vincenzo Vitale; here Muti was awarded a diploma cum laude. He was subsequently awarded a diploma in Composition and Conducting by the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, 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 and became, the next year, principal conductor and music director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, a post he held for eleven years.

Career

Early career

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 and in 1973 he was appointed its principal conductor, succeeding Otto Klemperer.^[4]

In 1986, Muti became principal conductor of the

In 1995 he was the president of the jury of the International Composing Competition "2 Agosto".^[5]

Berlin and Vienna

Muti has been a regular guest of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1996, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic during Vienna Festival Week and on tour to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Germany; he most recently toured with the Vienna Philharmonic to Japan in 2008. Muti has also led the orchestra's Vienna New Year's Concert on 6 occasions to date: in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018, and 2021.^[6]

Work in opera

Apart from his work at Milan's

in 2001.

Appearances in Salzburg

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2019)

Muti first conducted at the

Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy

In July 2015, Riccardo Muti's desire to devote even more to the training of young musicians was realised: the first edition of the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy for young conductors, répétiteurs and singers took place with great acclaim at Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna and talented young musicians, as well as an audience of music-lovers from around the world participated. The Academy has as purpose to pass on to young musicians Riccardo Muti's experience and lessons and to make the audience understand in its full complexity the path to accomplish an opera production.^[8]

In the United States

In the United States, 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.^[9]

Muti had been a regular and popular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra's musicians had reportedly been interested – towards the end of the tenures of Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel, and before Muti took the Chicago post – in having the conductor as their music director, but Muti stated that he had no wish to take on the position.^[10][11]

Muti had first guest-conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in 1973 at the Ravinia Festival, but did not return as a guest conductor with the CSO until 2007.^[12] In May 2008, the CSO named Muti its next music director, effective with the 2010–2011 season, with an initial contract of five years. His most recent contract extension, announced in January 2018, is through the 2021–2022 season.^[12] In January 2020, the CSO confirmed that Muti is to conclude his music directorship of the orchestra at the close of the 2021–2022 season.^[13] In September 2021, the CSO announced a revision to Muti's contract as its music director, with an extension of the scheduled closing date of his tenure to the end of the 2022–2023 season.^[14]

End of tenure in Milan

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.^[15] Muti did not attend the press conference that announced the 2003–04 season. The appointment in 2003 of Mauro Meli as La Scala's artistic director was intended to calm the conflict between Fontana and Muti.^[16]

On 24 February 2005, La Scala governors dismissed Fontana as general manager and named Meli as his successor.^[17] 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.^[18] On 16 March 2005, the orchestra and staff of La Scala voted overwhelmingly against Muti in a motion of no-confidence.^[19] 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 2 April, he resigned from La Scala, citing "hostility" from staff members.^[20][21]

In August 2009, Muti was said to be named the next music director of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, effective December 2010,^[22] but the news given by the mayor (and therefore president of Opera di Roma) Gianni Alemanno was not true. Alemanno, instead, announced in October 2011 that Muti accepted an invitation by the Orchestra of Opera di Roma to become a "lifetime conductor" of Opera di Roma.^[23]

Political intervention

On the night of 12 March 2011,

On 18 March, the performance of Nabucco was repeated in front of Italian president Giorgio Napolitano and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Muti, who had stated that it had been the first time in his life that he conducted chorus and audience together and also the last,^[24] on that occasion conducted the Verdi opera in the "orthodox" manner.^[27]

Personal life

Muti is married to Maria Cristina Mazzavillani, the founder and director of the Ravenna Festival.^[28] They have two sons, Domenico and Francesco, and a daughter, Chiara, who is married to the pianist David Fray.^[29]

In 2010, Muti wrote an autobiography. The following year, it was translated and published in English as Riccardo Muti: An Autobiography: First the Music, Then the Words. Music critic John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune described Muti's memoir as "fascinating."^[30]

Repertoire and recordings

External audio
You may listen to Riccardo Muti conducting Gioachino Rossini's opera William Tell with La Scala Opera Orchestra and Giorgio Zancanaro, Chris Merritt and Cheryl Studer in 1988 here on archive.org

With the Philadelphia Orchestra, his recordings include a Beethoven symphony cycle, the symphonies of Brahms and Scriabin, selected works of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, as well as less-known works of composers such as Puccini and Busoni.

Muti is considered one of the world's greatest conductors of the operas of 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 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

• Muti received several honours from the Italian government: in 1980, he was appointed a Grand Officer of the
  Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art in 1997.^[31]
• Muti is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM) since 1981.^[32]
• In 1989, Muti was elected to the American Philosophical Society.^[33]
• Honorary degree, University of Pavia, 1996.
• Muti was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2000.^[34]
• Muti was awarded a doctorate
  Universitat de Barcelona
  on 13 October 2003.
• In 2008, Muti was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[35]
• On 4 June 2010, Muti was appointed a Commander of the
  Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.^[36]
• In 2011, Muti was made a Member of Russia's Order of Friendship.^[37]
• In 2012, Muti was made Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI.^[38]
• In 2013, Muti was named Honorary President of EMMA for Peace, a network of music institutions.^[39]
• On 20 June 2014, Muti received an honorary degree from Northwestern University in Evanston.^[40]
• On 3 July 2016, Muti was awarded the 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star of Japan's Order of the Rising Sun.^[41]
• On 1 July 2018, Muti was awarded the 3rd Class, Order of Merit (Ukraine).^[42]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Riccardo Muti.

• Official website (in Italian and English)
• Riccardo Muti at
  AllMusic
• Riccardo Muti at
  IMDb
• Riccardo Muti biography at
  Sony BMG Masterworks

Cultural offices
Preceded by Claudio Abbado	Music Director, Teatro alla Scala 1986–2005	Succeeded by Daniel Barenboim