{"id":16553,"date":"2024-01-16T11:07:28","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T10:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riccardomuti.com\/?p=16553"},"modified":"2024-04-16T15:10:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T13:10:48","slug":"the-times-jan-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.riccardomuti.com\/en\/2024\/01\/16\/the-times-jan-24\/","title":{"rendered":"At 82, Riccardo Muti has never been better"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago Symphony review \u2014 at 82, Riccardo Muti has never been better<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Richard Morrison | January 12, 2024<\/p>\n

The orchestra is on tour with its venerable director and sounds superb \u2014 but why aren\u2019t they coming to the UK, wonders Richard Morrison<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now 82 and with an astonishing 550 concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under his belt, Riccardo Muti can still galvanise musicians as few others ever will. Opening the CSO\u2019s 14-concert European tour (which doesn\u2019t include the UK for what\u2019s diplomatically described as \u201clogistical reasons\u201d) at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Italian conductor offered the European premiere of a new Philip Glass piece, a beautifully spacious interpretation of Mendelssohn\u2019s Italian Symphony <\/em>(gracefully rebuffing those who think being Italian means driving very fast and gesticulating wildly), and a performance of Prokofiev\u2019s Fifth Symphony that grew more and more terrifying as it powered towards those percussion-driven last pages. Finally, in an encore paying homage to Puccini in his centenary year, he coaxed a wonderfully impassioned account of the intermezzo from Manon Lescaut<\/em>, with sublime solos from principal cello and viola.<\/p>\n

As always with Muti, the intensity was underpinned by a meticulous attention to detail, and especially blend. Just one tiny but telling example: I have never heard the quartet of horns and bassoons articulate their little fanfares in the Mendelssohn third movement with such clarity and perfect balance. Nor the violin lines shine so cleanly and lyrically in the first movement. Yet those same violins sounded properly raw in the ferocious thickets of Prokofiev. It suddenly seemed like a different orchestra.<\/p>\n

And the new Glass? Well, mostly a rewind of the old Glass \u2014 except that the ten- minute piece, called The Triumph of the Octagon<\/em> and inspired by the octagonal towers of a 13th-century Italian castle, did grow a little in interest and complexity after its soporific opening arpeggios. All credit to Muti for still premiering new stuff, but the only triumph here was in the title.<\/p>\n

After 13 years as the CSO\u2019s music director he has now been appointed \u201cmusic director emeritus for life\u201d \u2014 a continuing association that buys the orchestra some time to find a worthy successor. I gather the estimable Jakub Hrusa (soon to be music director of the Royal Opera) is a leading contender, with the dread name of Christian Thielemann also whispered.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, good news for Muti\u2019s British fans. He is back in London in October to conduct the Verdi Requiem \u2014 the work that, more than any other, made his name half a century ago.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Richard Morrison, The Times<\/em>, January 12, 2024<\/p>\n

Photo:\u00a0 Todd Rosenberg Photography\/Chicago Symphony Orchestra<\/span><\/h6>\n
\n<\/div>\n

\n Visit the Store <\/a><\/div>