Riccardo Muti facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Riccardo Muti
OMRI GCSG
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Muti in 2008
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| Born | 28 July 1941 |
| Alma mater | Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, Naples Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, Milan |
| Occupation | Conductor |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Cristina Mazzavillani
(m. 1969) |
| Children | 3 |
Riccardo Muti (born 28 July 1941) is a famous Italian conductor. A conductor is someone who leads an orchestra or choir. He is currently the music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini.
Muti has worked with many important orchestras and opera houses. These include the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also led the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is now the Music Director Emeritus in Chicago. This means he is a special honorary director for life.
Riccardo Muti has recorded many albums of classical music. He has won many awards, including two Grammy Awards. He is especially known for performing the music of Giuseppe Verdi. Many music critics consider him one of the best conductors in the world.
Contents
- Riccardo Muti's Early Life and Schooling
- Muti's Career as a Conductor
- Riccardo Muti's Family Life
- Music He Conducts and Recordings
- Awards and Special Honors
- Images for kids
- See also
Riccardo Muti's Early Life and Schooling
Riccardo Muti was born in Naples, Italy. He spent his early childhood in Molfetta, a town near Bari. This area is on Italy's southern Adriatic coast.
His father, Domenico, was a pathologist, a doctor who studies diseases. He was also an amateur singer and loved music very much. His mother, Gilda, was from Naples and had five children.
Muti finished high school at Liceo classico Vittorio Emanuele II in Naples. He then studied piano at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella. He earned a diploma with honors there. Later, he studied composition and conducting at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. His teachers included composer Bruno Bettinelli and conductor Antonino Votto. He also learned composition from Nino Rota, who was a big influence on him.
In 1967, Muti won first place in the "Guido Cantelli Competition for Conductors" in Milan. The next year, he became the main conductor and music director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He held this important job for eleven years.
Muti's Career as a Conductor
Starting His Career in Music
Since 1971, Riccardo Muti has often conducted operas and concerts at the Salzburg Festival. He is especially famous for his performances of Mozart's operas there.
From 1972, Muti regularly conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. In 1973, he became its main conductor, taking over from Otto Klemperer.
In 1979, Muti became the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra in the United States. In 1986, he became the main conductor of the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan. He toured Europe with them in 1988. In 1991, after 12 years, he decided to leave his role with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Working with Famous Orchestras
Muti has often been a guest conductor for the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1996, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic during the Vienna Festival Week. He also toured with them to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Germany. He toured Japan with them again in 2008.
Muti has led the Vienna Philharmonic's famous Vienna New Year's Concert seven times. These were in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018, 2021, and he is scheduled for 2025.
Muti's Work in Opera Houses
Besides his long work at Milan's Teatro alla Scala, Muti has conducted operas in many major cities. These include Rome, Vienna, London, Munich, and New York.
His work with the Vienna State Opera includes famous operas like Aida (1973), La forza del destino (1974), and Norma (1977). He also conducted Rigoletto (1983), Così fan tutte (1996, 2008), Don Giovanni (1999), and The Marriage of Figaro (2001).
Performances at the Salzburg Festival
Muti first conducted at the Salzburg Festival in 1971. He led Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale. Since then, Muti has often appeared at the festival. He conducts concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and many opera shows.
Some of the operas he has conducted there include Così fan tutte (1982-1985, 1990-1991) and La clemenza di Tito (1988-1989). He also led Don Giovanni (1990-1991), La traviata (1995), and Die Zauberflöte (2005, 2006). More recently, he conducted Otello (2008), Moise et Pharaon (2009), and Orfeo ed Euridice (2010). In 2011, Muti conducted a new show of Verdi's Macbeth. For the 2017 Salzburg Festival, he conducted Aida. Muti also has a home near Salzburg.
From 2007 to 2011, Muti was the artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. He conducted rare Italian operas from the 1700s. He also led concerts with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, which he started.
Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy
In 2015, Riccardo Muti started the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy. This academy helps young conductors, répétiteurs (coaches), and singers. It takes place at Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Italy.
The academy helps young musicians learn from Muti's experience. It also helps the audience understand how an opera is put together. Many talented young musicians and music lovers from around the world attend.
Working in the United States
Philadelphia and New York Orchestras
From 1980 to 1992, Muti was the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He led them on many international tours. He was named conductor laureate in 1992.
Muti believed in staying true to the composer's original ideas. This meant changing the orchestra's famous "Philadelphia Sound." This sound was known for being very rich and full. Some people thought he made the orchestra sound too plain. Others believed he helped show the true meaning of the music. Since leaving Philadelphia, he has rarely conducted the orchestra, most recently in 2005.
Muti was also a popular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic. The musicians there were interested in him becoming their music director. However, Muti said he did not want to take on that job.
Leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Muti first conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in 1973. He returned as a guest conductor in 2007. He later said that he felt a special connection with the orchestra right away.
In 2008, the CSO named Muti their next music director. He started in the 2010–2011 season with a five-year contract. His last contract extension was through the 2022–2023 season. Muti stepped down as music director at the end of that season.
His time in Chicago was very successful. He led beautiful and powerful performances of operas, classic orchestral pieces, and new works. In 2023, the CSO announced that Muti would be named Music Director Emeritus for life. This means he will continue to perform with them sometimes.
Leaving La Scala in Milan
In 2003, there were disagreements at La Scala, a famous opera house in Milan. The musical director, Muti, and the general manager, Carlo Fontana, had different ideas.
In 2005, La Scala's leaders fired Fontana. The musicians at La Scala supported Fontana against Muti. On March 13, Muti said he would no longer conduct the La Scala orchestra. On March 16, the orchestra and staff voted against Muti. He had to cancel a concert. On April 2, he resigned from La Scala, saying there was "hostility" from staff members.
Muti's Political Statement
On March 12, 2011, Muti was conducting Verdi's opera Nabucco at Rome's Teatro dell'Opera. After the chorus "Va, pensiero" (which means "Go, thought"), the audience applauded loudly. This song is about a country that is "beautiful and lost."
Muti then did something unusual. He turned to the audience and gave a short speech. He talked about the government's budget cuts, which would hurt funding for the arts. He said it was important to keep culture alive in Italy. He believed that "killing culture in a country like Italy is a crime against society."
Then, he invited the audience to sing the "Va, pensiero" chorus again. This was also a break from tradition. The audience stood up and sang along with the chorus on stage. Muti remembered that "80 percent of the audience knew the lyrics" and sang, and "some members of the chorus were in tears."
A few days later, the performance was repeated for important people, including the former Italian president. Muti conducted the opera in the usual way that time.
Riccardo Muti's Family Life
Riccardo Muti is married to Maria Cristina Mazzavillani. She is the founder and director of the Ravenna Festival. They have two sons, Domenico and Francesco, and a daughter, Chiara. Chiara is married to the pianist David Fray.
In 2010, Muti wrote his autobiography, a book about his own life. It was later translated into English as Riccardo Muti: An Autobiography: First the Music, Then the Words.
Music He Conducts and Recordings
With the Philadelphia Orchestra, Muti recorded many famous works. These include a full set of Beethoven's symphonies. He also recorded symphonies by Brahms and Scriabin. Other recordings include works by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev. He also recorded less common pieces by composers like Puccini and Busoni.
Muti is known as one of the best conductors of Verdi's operas. He also led yearly opera performances in concert. These included works by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, and Wagner. In 1992, Muti conducted performances of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with the famous singer Luciano Pavarotti. These performances were also recorded.
At La Scala, Muti was known for finding and performing less-known operas. These were from the Classical and early Romantic periods. Examples include Lodoiska by Cherubini and La vestale by Spontini.
Awards and Special Honors
Honors Riccardo Muti Has Received
- Muti has received several honors from the Italian government. In 1980, he became a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 1990, he was promoted to a Knight Grand Cross of the same Order. He received a Golden Medal for Culture and Art in 1997.
- Since 1981, Muti has been an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music.
- In 1989, Muti was chosen to join the American Philosophical Society.
- He received an honorary degree from the University of Pavia in 1996.
- In 2000, Muti was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).
- He received an honorary doctorate from the Universitat de Barcelona in 2003.
- In 2008, Muti was chosen to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- In 2010, he was made a Commander of the Legion of Honour by France.
- In 2011, Muti became a Member of Russia's Order of Friendship.
- In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI made Muti a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great.
- In 2013, Muti was named Honorary President of EMMA for Peace, a group of music organizations.
- In 2014, Muti received an honorary degree from Northwestern University in the United States.
- In 2016, Muti was awarded the Gold and Silver Star of Japan's Order of the Rising Sun.
- In 2018, Muti received the 3rd Class of the Order of Merit (Ukraine).
Major Awards Muti Has Won
- 2010 Grammy Awards: He won two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance for Verdi: Requiem.
- 2011 Birgit Nilsson Prize
- 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts.
- 2018 Praemium Imperiale
Images for kids
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Muti in 2008
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Riccardo Muti, Premio Cantelli Teatro Coccia di Novara, 1967
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Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler with Riccardo Muti, 14 August 2016
See also
In Spanish: Riccardo Muti para niños
