From this year, Chicago will have its "Riccardo Muti Day". The decision came on July 28, 2021, on the eightieth birthday of the Maestro. "We do it in honor of one of the greatest Masters in the world“Said the mayor of the American city Lori Lightfoot.
How the "Riccardo Muti Day" was born
"The celebrations for Maestro Muti's birthday have gone to the next level. Our mayor has decided that, from now on, July 28 in Chicago will be Riccardo Muti Day”Reads on the social pages of Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her motives, Lightfoot explained in a letter, with which she formally instituted the town festival. After all, the Neapolitan Maestro lived in Chicago for a long time. In 2010 he became conductor of the prestigious Chicago Symphony Orchestra and worked hard to strengthen the bond between the orchestra, the city and its inhabitants. He has directed it in over 450 performances, all over the country, and has made everyone love it. Even by those who don't know classical music very well.
Not only did he work with the Chicago orchestra, Riccardo Muti. Among the many milestones of his career there is also the foundation of the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra and the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy, always with a noble goal: bring classical music into anyone's life, regardless of social class. Memorable were his performances in front of inmates, concerts for students and those for war veterans. On the other hand, the international honors (Knight of the Grand Cross in Italy, Official of the Legion of Honor in France) and the awards of the Queen Elizabeth, of Pope Benedict XVI and various Heads of State. "For all of this I couldn't be more proud to join her family, friends, colleagues and fans in the celebration of this occasion."Thus concludes the mayor of the proclamation of" Riccardo Muti Day ".
80 years of the Maestro
"Riccardo Muti is known for being the greatest interpreter of Giuseppe Verdi's music, and has conducted the CSO in the performances of Macebth, Otello, Falstaff, Aida as well as in Verdi's Requiem, the latter recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and with his Chorus.”Reads the letter. Apart from exhibitions, they are i Grammy to indissolubly tie the figure of Muti to that of Chicago. In 2021, in full pandemic, with a ceremony behind closed doors, the Italian Maestro won with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra the "Best Engineered Album, Classical" for "Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13".
Despite his long American life, Riccardo Muti has always remained profoundly Italian. So much so that, when interviewed by the Chicago Tribune during the pandemic, his country defended and celebrated him. "For being a people generally considered extroverted, we are demonstrating a country that, when things get serious, becomes like one person"he said. “The songs on the balconies are not a sign of superficiality. I am the classic Italian way of finding a way out through music, through singing".
Featured photo taken from the RMMusic Instagram page
