The legendary Italian director reflects on the past, present, and future of classical music following his farewell concerts as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
May 10, 2021 Share
Maestro Riccardo Muti has once again reopened the Italian musical season in his adopted hometown of Ravenna after another and if all goes well perhaps final round of pandemic closures.
With a purposeful nod and flick of his baton, the 79-year-old conductor on Sunday ended what has been an unexpectedly long silence in Italian theaters, enrapturing a socially distanced and masked audience with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s first live performances since the fall two evening concerts of Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms.
The concerts launched a three-stop Italian tour by the Vienna Philharmonic to celebrate 50 years of ties with the conductor and served as a precursor to the summertime Ravenna Festival, this year celebrating the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death.
AP
RAVENNA, Italy Maestro Riccardo Muti has once again reopened the Italian musical season in his adopted hometown of Ravenna after another and if all goes well perhaps final round of pandemic closures.
With a purposeful nod and flick of his baton, the 79-year-old conductor on Sunday ended what has been an unexpectedly long silence in Italian theaters, enrapturing a socially distanced and masked audience with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s first live performances since the fall two evening concerts of Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms.
The concerts launched a three-stop Italian tour by the Vienna Philharmonic to celebrate 50 years of ties with the conductor and served as a precursor to the summertime Ravenna Festival, this year celebrating the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death.