Muti’s 600th concert with the CSO is one of many nights at the opera

On Friday, March 20, 2026, the CSO Family salutes Riccardo Muti, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director Emeritus for Life, on the occasion of his 600th concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Since 1973, their relationship has flourished in memorable concerts throughout Chicago, across the country and around the world.

Like the upcoming March 19-21 concerts, which include music of Verdi, Giordano, Catalani and Puccini, many of his treasured programs with the CSO have featured 19th-century, Italian operatic repertoire, particularly the music of Verdi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, Riccardo Muti has been closely identified with the music of Giuseppe Verdi. In recent years, Chicago has been fortunate to have hosted many of Muti’s performances of Verdi’s music. From his first concerts as music director designate in January 2009, Verdi has been central to Muti’s Chicago Symphony repertoire — in Orchestra Hall, Carnegie Hall and on tour to Europe and Asia.

In addition to leading various overtures, choruses, scenes and arias, Muti has conducted the Four Sacred Pieces, five complete operas, and the Requiem Mass on several occasions. The 2009 recording of the Requiem received Grammy awards for Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance.

“Verdi is life’s musician, and he has indeed been the musician of my life.” From Verdi, The Italian: In Music, Our Roots by Riccardo Muti

Muti has also championed the music of Puccini, Mascagni, and Boito, among others, in memorable performances and recordings, such as the CSO Resound releases Italian Masterworks album featuring the massive Prologue to Boito’s Mefistofele and Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana.  

His vivid interpretations of these scores with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and guest soloists have revealed the infinite depth and nuance of this music, making this repertoire as welcome on the concert stage as it is in the theater. What follows is a list recalling some of those memorable performances.

VERDI Requiem Mass
January 15–17, 2009; Orchestra Hall
Barbara Frittoli, Olga Borodina, Mario Zeffiri, Ildar Abdrazakov; Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe)

VERDI Otello
April 7, 9, 12, 2011; Orchestra Hall
April 15, 2011; Carnegie Hall
Aleksandrs Antonenko (Otello), Krassimira Stoyanova (Desdemona), Carlo Guelfi (Iago); Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe), Chicago Children’s Choir (Josephine Lee)

VERDI Macbeth
September 28, October 1, 4, 6, 2013; Orchestra Hall
Luca Salsi (Macbeth), Tatiana Serjan (Lady Macbeth), Dmitry Belosselskiy (Banquo), Francesco Meli (Macduff); Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe)

“I have loved performing the Verdi operas with Maestro Muti. Many of us had never played these works before, and it was a joy to learn them with Maestro Muti, who has a consummate knowledge of Verdi’s texts and scores. What a sublime treat for the Orchestra and Chicago audiences!” Susan Synnestvedt, CSO Violin

VERDI Requiem Mass
(Commemorating Verdi’s 200th birthday) October 10, 2013; Orchestra Hall
Tatiana Serjan, Daniela Barcellona, Mario Zeffiri, Ildar Abdrazakov; Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe)

VERDI Requiem Mass
November 1, 2, 2014; Grosse Musikvereinssaal, Vienna, Austria
Krassimira Stoyanova, Ekaterina Gubanova, Piotr Beczała, Riccardo Zanellato; Wiener Singverein (Johannes Prinz)

VERDI Falstaff
April 21, 23, 26, 2016; Orchestra Hall
Ambrogio Maestri (Falstaff), Eleonora Buratto (Alice), Luca Salsi (Ford), Rosa Feola (Nannetta), Saimir Pirgu (Fenton), Daniela Barcellona (Quickly), Laura Polverelli (Meg); Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe)

“For more than forty years, Riccardo Muti has been the king of Verdi conductors, the one who most makes you feel you are hearing the composer’s operas for the very first time.” The New York Times

“I love the few pieces we have done by Puccini with Maestro Muti and know the regard he has for Puccini. I particularly remember the Intermezzo from act 3 of Manon Lescaut. . . . Muti gave it wings that went far beyond my imagination. It was truly inspiring.” Gene Pokorny, CSO Principal Tuba

VERDI Overture to Nabucco
VERDI Gli arredi festivi from Nabucco
VERDI Va, pensiero from Nabucco
VERDI Vedi! le fosche notturne from Il trovatore
VERDI Patria oppressa! from Macbeth
VERDI Overture to I vespri siciliani
PUCCINI Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut
MASCAGNI Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana
BOITO Prologue to Mefistofele
June 22, 23, 24, 25, 2017; Orchestra Hall
Riccardo Zanellato (Mefistofele), Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe)

VERDI Requiem Mass
January 31, February 2, 2019; Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan
Vittoria Yeo, Daniela Barcellona, Francesco Meli, Dmitry Belosselskiy; Tokyo Opera Singers (Shigeki Miyamatsu)

VERDI Aida
June 21, 23, 25, 2019; Orchestra Hall
Krassimira Stoyanova/Elaine Alvarez (Aida), Anita Rachvelishvili (Amneris), Francesco Meli (Radamès), Ildar Abdrazakov (Ramfis), Kiril Manolov (Amonasro), Eric Owens (King); Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe)

VERDI Requiem Mass
January 13, 14, 2020; Grosse Musikvereinssaal, Vienna, Austria
Krassimira Stoyanova, Daniela Barcellona, Francesco Meli, Riccardo Zanellato; Wiener Singverein (Johannes Prinz)

MASCAGNI Cavalleria rusticana
February 6, 7, 8, 2020; Orchestra Hall
Anita Rachvelishvili (Santuzza), Piero Pretti (Turiddu), Luca Salsi (Alfio); Ronnita Miller (Lucia), Sasha Cooke (Lola); Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe)

VERDI Un ballo in maschera
June 23, 25, 28, 2022; Orchestra Hall
Francesco Meli (Riccardo), Joyce El-Khoury (Amelia), Luca Salsi (Renato), Yulia Matochkina (Ulrica), Damiana Mizzi (Oscar); Chicago Symphony Chorus (Donald Palumbo)

VERDI Requiem Mass
June 19, 20, 21, 25, 2025; Orchestra Hall
Elena Guseva; Marianne Crebassa; John Osborn; Maharram Huseynov; Chicago Symphony Chorus (Donald Palumbo)

“The depth and power of Maestro Muti’s interpretations of Verdi are simply astounding. I feel privileged to have experienced these moments in time.” Daniel Gingrich, CSO Horn