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Riccardo Muti

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Riccardo Muti is an Italian conductor, born on 28 July 1941 in Naples. He spent his youth in Molfetta, near Bari. He studied piano at the San Pietro a Majella conservatoire in Naples and then composition and conducting in Milan. He also studied composition with Nino Rota, whom he regards as a mentor. In 1967 he won the Guido Cantelli conducting competition and a year later he became chief conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, a post he held for eleven years.

Music and breakthrough

From 1971 he often conducted at the Salzburg Festival, where he became known above all for his Mozart operas. In 1973 he succeeded Otto Klemperer as chief conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. From 1979 he was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, from 1986 of the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, and later also of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he became music director emeritus in 2023. He now leads the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini.

Influence

He recorded a great deal, from Aida in 1974 and La traviata in 1982 to The Rite of Spring in 1979, Carmina Burana in 1980 and Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition. He is associated above all with Verdi. He received two Grammys and in 2015, according to a Bachtrack poll, ranked fifth among the best living conductors. Muti shows that opera and symphonic work reinforce each other, and that traditions keep their value when they are played with seriousness.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a recording by Muti of a Verdi opera, such as La traviata, and notice how orchestra and singers breathe together. Do you hear how the tempo moves with the emotion?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists