Riccardo Muti and Vienna Philharmonic tour Asia and Egypt

The longtime musical partnership of the Vienna Philharmonic and Riccardo Muti, Zell Music Director of the CSO, has logged a new chapter with the orchestra’s current tour of Asia and Egypt (Nov. 3-21, 2021). The artistic bond for Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic has been forged over more than 50 years of performances at the Salzburg Festival, in the historic Musikverein in Vienna and on multiple international tours.

“Expectations were high even before the performance,” read The Korea Times; “It was the most-anticipated and biggest performance in Korea by an overseas ensemble since the COVID-19 pandemic started.” The current tour is organized under strict safety and travel protocols designed to address the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Muti and the musicians have traveled together to share the music of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Stravinsky and Strauss with enthusiastic audiences in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, as well as during concerts in the Japanese cities of Nagoya, Himeji and Osaka and in Seoul, Daejeon and Busan in South Korea. Reporter Ju Kyuk Kim of Bachtrack called the performances in Japan, “Nothing short of greatness,” and described Muti’s conducting as “exciting and flawless.”

Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic conclude their fall 2021 tour with concerts on November 20 and 21 that represent the opening performances at the Concert Hall in the New Administrative Capital’s City of Arts and Culture in Cairo, Egypt.