CSOradio
CSOradio
One of the most significant works associated with Riccardo Muti during his CSO years is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, one of the best known and most transformative works in all classical music.
Muti has conducted the piece twice with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, including a set of performances in February 2022. The first presentation coincided with the second day of the now-ongoing war in Ukraine. In remarks from the podium, he dedicated the performance to the people of that country and said that “joy without peace cannot exist.”
Muti first tackled the work at Orchestra Hall in 2014. A video of those performances of the Ninth Symphony has drawn nearly 44 million views on YouTube, a testament to both the stature of this timeless work and the international fame of the maestro and the CSO.
Muti has guest conducted the Vienna Philharmonic every year since 1971 and has also led the ensemble in many recordings and tours. “They consider me a kind of curator of their sound,” he said, “because I learned it from them in the beginning of the 1970s, and I have seen it through three generations of Vienna Philharmonic musicians.”
Maestro Muti is contracted to perform with the Austrian orchestra through 2028. One of his most notable future concerts will come in May 2024, when he will lead Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 once again, saying he is “very proud” to be asked by the ensemble to lead the Ninth on the 200th anniversary of its debut.
“It is a big honor, because they didn’t ask a German or Austrian conductor,” he said. “That shows the respect that we have.”
