Currently he is Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
For forty-five years he has collaborated with the Wiener Philharmoniker.
Born in 1941 in Naples. Graduated with distinction from the faculty of piano of the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella (class of Vincenzo Vitale). As a composer and conductor he studied at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano (class of Bruno Bettinelli and Antonio Votto).
Recipient of the 1st prize at the Guido Cantelli Conducting Competition (Milan, 1967). From 1968 to 1980 he was Principal Conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival. In 1971 he was invited by Herbert von Karajan to make his debut at the Salzburg Festival and has never missed the event since.
From 1973 to 1982 he headed London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, succeeding Otto Klemperer. From 1980 to 1992 he led the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Eugene Ormandy. From 1986 to 2005 he was Music Director of the Teatro alla Scala. His most important achievements include a Mozart trilogy to libretti by da Ponte (Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte), Wagner’s tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, rarely performed works by composers of the 18th century Neapolitan school and operas by Gluck, Cherubini and Spontini. A production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des carmélites was awarded the Abbiati Prize. The culmination of Riccardo Muti’s career at La Scala came with the premiere of a production of Salieri’s opera Europa riconosciuta at the theatre following its reconstruction (7 December 2004).
Has conducted many of Verdi’s operas. Has appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Symphony Orchestra of Bayerische Rundfunk, the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France. In 2004 he founded the Cherubini Youth Orchestra, together with which between 2007 and 2012 as part of the Trinity Festival in Salzburg he revived forgotten masterpieces by composers of the 18th century Neapolitan school.
For forty-five years he has collaborated with the Wiener Philharmoniker. On four occasions (1993, 1997, 2000 and 2004) Riccardo Muti has conducted the famous New Year Concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna.
Since 2010 he has been Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A concert recording of Verdi’s Requiem together with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Riccardo Muti received two Grammy awards – “Best Classical Album” (with soloists Olga Borodina and Ildar Abdrazakov) and “Best Work by a Chorus” (2011). As part of the project Le vie dell’Amicizia under the aegis of the Ravenna Festival Muti gave concerts in Sarajevo (1997), Beirut (1998), Jerusalem (1999), Moscow (2000), Yerevan and Istanbul (2001), New York (2002), Cairo (2003), Damascus (2004), El Jem (Tunis, 2005), Meknes (2006), Lebanon (2007), Mazara del Vallo (2008), Sarajevo (2009), Trieste (2010) and Nairobi (2011).
The conductor’s numerous awards and titles include Cavalier of the Order “For Services to the Italian Republic”, the Officer’s Cross “For Services to the Federal Republic of Germany”, Officer of the Order of the Foreign Legion, Honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire and Cavalier of the Vatican’s highest award – the Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great, 1st class.
Honorary member of the Viennese Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, the Vienna Hofkapelle, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Wiener Philharmoniker. Honorary Life Director of the Opera di Roma. Recipient of the Silver Medal from the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Order of Friendship (Russia), The Wolf Prize (Israel), the Birgit Nilsson Prize (Sweden), Opera News Awards (USA), the Prince of the Asturias Prize (Spain), the Vittorio de Sica Prize and honorary diploma from the IULM university (Milan) and an honorary diploma from the Università l’Orientale in Naples. Doctor of humanities of the School of Music and Theatre of the DePaul University in Chicago.
For more details please go to: www.riccardomutimusic.com.
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