{"id":408,"date":"2016-10-10T15:44:34","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T13:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.riccardomuti.com\/en\/?page_id=408"},"modified":"2025-12-22T11:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T10:16:08","slug":"biografia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.riccardomuti.com\/en\/biografia\/","title":{"rendered":"Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Riccardo Muti<\/h1><\/span>
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RICCARDO MUTI<\/p>\n

Born in Naples, Riccardo Muti studied piano under Vincenzo Vitale at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, graduating with distinction. He subsequently received a diploma in composition and conducting from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where he studied under the guidance of Bruno Bettinelli and Antonino Votto.<\/p>\n

He first came to the attention of critics and the public in 1967, when he won the Guido Cantelli Conducting Competition \u2013 by unanimous vote of the jury \u2013 in Milan. In 1968, he became principal conductor of the \u201cMaggio Musicale Fiorentino,\u201d a position he held until 1980. In 1971 Muti was invited by Herbert von Karajan to conduct at the Salzburg Festival, the first of many occasions, which in 2020 led to a celebration of fifty years of artistic collaboration with the Austrian festival. During the 1970s, he was chief conductor of the London Philharmonia Orchestra (1972 to 1982) succeeding Otto Klemperer. From 1980 to 1992, he inherited the position of Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra from Eugene Ormandy.<\/p>\n

From 1986 to 2005, he was Music Director of the Teatro alla Scala and during his tenure he directed major projects such as the Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy and the Wagner Ring Cycle. Alongside the classics of the repertoire, he brought many rarely performed and neglected works to light, including pieces from the Neapolitan school of the Eighteenth Century, as well as operas by Gluck, Cherubini, and Spontini. Poulenc\u2019s Les dialogues des Carm\u00e9lites<\/em> earned Muti the prestigious Abbiati Prize from the critics. The long period spent as Music Director of Teatro alla Scala culminated on December 7th<\/sup> , 2004, in the triumphant re-opening of the restored opera house with Antonio Salieri\u2019s Europa riconosciuta<\/em>.<\/p>\n

His contribution to Verdi\u2019s repertoire was incredible. He conducted Ernani, Nabucco, I Vespri Siciliani, La Traviata, Attila, Don Carlos, Falstaff, Rigoletto, Macbeth, La Forza del Destino, Il Trovatore, Otello, Aida, Un ballo in Maschera, I Due Foscari, I Masnadieri<\/em>. His tenure as music director was the longest of any in the history of La Scala.<\/p>\n

Over the course of his extraordinary career, Riccardo Muti has conducted the most important orchestras in the world from the Berlin Philharmonic to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, from the New York Philharmonic to the Orchestre National de France, as well as the Vienna Philharmonic, an orchestra to which he is linked by particularly close and important ties, and with which he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival since 1971.<\/p>\n

When Muti was invited to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic\u2019s 150th<\/sup> anniversary concert, he was presented with the Golden Ring by the orchestra, a special sign of esteem and affection, awarded only to a few selected conductors.\u00a0 After 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018 and 2021, in 2025 Riccardo Muti conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in the New Year\u2019s Concert for the seventh time. For the recording of year 2018, he was awarded the Double Platinum on the occasion of his concerts with the same orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. On the 7th of May 2024, in Vienna, Riccardo Muti conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its premi\u00e8re.<\/p>\n

In April 2003, the French national radio channel, France Musique, broadcast a \u201cJourn\u00e9e Riccardo Muti\u201d consisting of 14 hours of his operatic and symphonic recordings made with all the orchestras he has conducted throughout his career. On December 14th<\/sup> of the same year, he conducted the long-awaited opening concert of the newly renovated \u201cLa Fenice\u201d Opera House in Venice. Radio France broadcast another \u201cRiccardo Muti Day\u201d on May 17th<\/sup><\/span> , 2018, when he conducted a concert at Auditorium de la Maison de la Radio.<\/p>\n

In 2004, Muti founded the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, which is made up of young musicians selected by an international committee of more than 600 instrumentalists from all over Italy. To celebrate its\u00a0first twenty years, Riccardo Muti conducted the Orchestra composed of an extraordinary group of musicians in the concert held in Lucca (Italy) to commemorate 100 years since the death of Giacomo Puccini (June 2024).<\/p>\n

Muti\u2019s recording activities, already significant in the Seventies, range from symphonic music and opera to contemporary compositions. His recordings have won many prizes. The recording label dealing with his recordings is RMMUSIC<\/strong> (www.riccardomutimusic.com<\/strong><\/a><\/span>).<\/p>\n

Riccardo Muti\u2019s social and civic conscience as an artist is demonstrated by his concerts performed in places symbolizing our troubled past and contemporary history, which he has conducted as part of \u201cLe vie dell\u2019Amicizia\u201d (The Roads of Friendship) project, produced by Ravenna Festival. Concerts were held in Sarajevo (1997), Beirut (1998), Jerusalem (1999), Moscow (2000), Yerevan and Istanbul (2001), New York (2002), Cairo (2003), Damascus (2004), El Djem, Tunisia (2005), Meknes (2006), Concert for Lebanon (2007), Mazara del Vallo (2008), Sarajevo (2009), Trieste (2010), Nairobi (2011), Ravenna (2012), Mirandola (2013), Redipuglia (2104), Otranto (2015), Tokyo (2016), Tehran (2017), Kyiv (2018), Athens (2019), Paestum (2020), Erevan (2021), the marian shrines in Lourdes and Loreto (2022), Jerash and Pompei (2023), Lampedusa (2024) with La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with the \u201cMusicians of Europe United\u201d \u2013 a group made up of the top players of Europe\u2019s major orchestras \u2013 and most recently with the Cherubini Orchestra.<\/p>\n

Muti has received innumerable international honors over the course of his career. He is Cavaliere di Gran Croce of the Italian Republic and a recipient of the German Verdienstkreuz. He also received the decoration of Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2010 from French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a private ceremony held at \u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace and, in January 2024, the decoration of Commander of the Legion of Honour from the French Ambassador Martin Briens on behalf of President Emmanuel Macron. He was made an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in Britain. The Salzburg Mozarteum awarded him its silver medal for his contribution to Mozart\u2019s music, and in Vienna he was elected an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna Hofmusikkapelle and Vienna State Opera. The State of Israel has honored him with the Wolf Prize for the arts. In July 2018, on the occasion of the Friendship Concert, Muti received the Order of Merit from the Ukrainian President Poroshenko. In October, he was conferred the prestigious Praemium Imperiale for Music of the Japan Arts Association in Tokyo. On the 12th of December, 2025, during the concert in honour and at the presence of Pope Leo XIV, the Pope himself presented Muti with the Prize of the Ratzinger Foundation for his immense artistic contributions. A few days later, in Florence, he was recognised by the Accademia della Crusca as a Distinguished Contributor to the Italian Language.<\/p>\n

He has received more than 20 honorary degrees from the most important universities of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

He conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in the opening concert for the celebrations of the 250th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of Mozart\u2019s birth in Salzburg at the Grosses Festspielhaus. In 2020 the continuous collaboration between Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic reached 50 years.<\/p>\n

During the 2007 Whitsun Festival in Salzburg, Muti began a five-year project with the Cherubini Orchestra dedicated to the rediscovery and valorization of the operatic and sacred music heritage of the Neapolitan School of the 18th Century.<\/p>\n

From September 2010 to June 2023, Riccardo Muti has been Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. At the end of his tenure, Muti was recognised with the title of Music Director Emeritus for Life by the Orchestra.<\/p>\n

In 2010 Musical America named him Musician of the Year. At the 53rd<\/sup> annual awards ceremony in February 2011, he was awarded two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance for his live recording of Verdi\u2019s Messa da Requiem<\/em> with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In March 2011, Riccardo Muti was selected as the recipient of the coveted Birgit Nilsson Prize, presented in a ceremony on October 13th<\/sup> at the Royal Opera in Stockholm in the presence of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and H.M. Queen Silvia. In April 2011, he received the Opera News Award in New York and in May 2011 he was awarded Spain\u2019s prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for the Arts. The award was presented the following autumn in Oviedo at a grand ceremony chaired by H.R.H. the Prince of Asturias. In July 2011 he was named honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic and in August 2011 honorary director for life at the Rome Opera.
\nIn May 2012, he was awarded the highest Papal honor: the Knight of the Grand Cross First Class of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI.
\nIn 2016 he was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Japanese Government. In August 2021 he received the highest honor that the Austrian State bestows on those who do not hold institutional positions, the Great Gold Medal of Honor for services to the Austrian Republic. In October 2021 Maestro Muti was appointed Honorary Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Arts.<\/p>\n

In July 2015, Riccardo Muti\u2019s desire to devote even more to the training of young musicians was realized: the first edition of the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy<\/strong> for young conductors, r\u00e9p\u00e9titeurs and singers took place at Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna.
\nTalented young musicians and an audience of music-lovers coming from all over the world took part. The Academy has the purpose to pass on to young musicians Riccardo Muti\u2019s experience and teachings and to make the audience understand the journey that leads to the realization of an opera in all its complexity.<\/p>\n

The focus of the first Academy was the opera Falstaff<\/em>, while in the following years Maestro chose to work on La Traviata<\/em> (in Ravenna and Seoul \u2013 2016), Aida<\/em> (2017), Macbeth<\/em> (2018 in Ravenna and April 2021 in Tokyo), Le nozze di Figaro<\/em> (2019), Rigoletto<\/em> for the first Italian Opera Academy in Tokyo in March 2019, Cavalleria rusticana<\/em> and Pagliacci<\/em> (2020), Nabucco<\/em> in December 2021 in Milan, for the first time in cooperation with Fondazione Prada, Giuseppe Verdi\u2019s Messa da Requiem<\/em> in Ravenna (December 2022), Un ballo in maschera<\/em> in Tokyo (March 2023), Bellini’s Norma<\/em>, in Fondazione Prada (November 2023), Verdi’s Attila<\/em> in Tokyo (September 2024), Cavalleria rusticana<\/em> in China (Suzhou, November 2024), Simon Boccanegra<\/em> in Tokyo (September 2025) and Don Giovanni<\/em> in Fondazione Prada (November 2025). Info: www.riccardomutioperacademy.com<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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