Riccardo Muti Returns to Chicago for Two Weeks for Residency with the CSO, 1/30-2/8

Riccardo Muti, the preeminent conductor and the music director of the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra, returns to Chicago in late January for two weeks of CSO subscription programs. Concerts with Maestro Muti begin on Thursday, January 30 at 8 p.m. and continue on January 31 and February 1. This program-on which Muti and the CSO are joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composer and cellist Giovanni Sollima-includes Schubert's Symphonies No. 3 and 4 along with the world premiere of a commissioned work for two cellos and orchestra by Giovanni Sollima. Maestro Muti's association with Sollima goes back over a decade, and includes previous performances together, as well as two prior world premieres: from Teatro alla Scala, which resulted in Sollima's Tempesta e Ritratti, premiered by Maestro Muti in 2001, and from Ravenna, for which Sollima composedPassiuni, premiered by Muti and the Cherubini Orchestra in 2008.

On February 6, 7, and 8, Maestro Muti leads a program that features Schubert's Mass No. 5 in A-flat Major and the CSO's first-ever performance of Schubert's Overture in the Italian Style in C Major. Another piece receives its first CSO performance on this program: Italian composer Ennio Morricone's Voices from the Silence, written to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001, and first performed in the U.S. at the United Nations in 2007, conducted by the composer. Maestro Muti led the 2002 world premiere of the piece at the Ravenna Festival, which commissioned the work. Muti has said of Morricone, ?I know him well. I had the pleasure of conducting the premiere of his Voci Dal Silenzio. He is one of the world's best contemporary composers." Both Muti and Morricone are McKim Medal recipients. Morricone attended Muti's 2012 McKim award ceremony.

Throughout the CSO's 2013/14 season, Maestro Muti and the CSO traverse the complete Schubert symphonies, as well as several more of the composer's works, all as part of the CSO's season-long celebration of Schubert. ?An orchestra must reach deeply when playing the music of Schubert. It is pure music...there is great intimacy and great reflection. When you experience a Schubert symphony, you come out of the hall enriched," says Riccardo Muti.

As part of his ongoing commitment to bring classical music to the broadest possible audience, Maestro Muti leads two open rehearsals with the CSO during this residency, on Thursday, January 30, and Thursday, February 6, both at Symphony Center. The first open rehearsal includes an audience of seniors and various community groups. The second open rehearsal includes a smaller audience from the CSO donor community.

Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. Sponsorship of the Music Director for performances on January 30 and 31 and February 1, 6, 7 and 8 is provided in part by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation.

About Riccardo Muti (www.RiccardoMutiMusic.com)
Now in his fourth season as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti is one of the preeminent conductors of our day. In 2010,when he became the tenth music director of the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), he had more than forty years of experience at the helm of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence (1968-80); the Philharmonia Orchestra in London (1972-82); the Philadelphia Orchestra (1980-1992); and Teatro alla Scala in Milan (1986-2005). He continues to be in demand as a guest conductor for other great orchestras and opera houses: the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and many others. He is an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic, which gave him its Golden Ring as a special sign of esteem and affection. He also is honorary director for life of the Rome Opera.

Muti has received innumerable honors from Italy, the United States, France, Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Israel, Spain, Russia, Sweden, and the Vatican as well as more than 20 honorary degrees from universities around the world. Passionate about teaching young musicians, Muti founded the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra in 2004. Through Le vie dell'Amicizia (The Paths of Friendship), a project of the Ravenna Festival in Italy, he has conducted in many of the world's most troubled areas in order to bring attention to and advocate for civic and social issues. In greater Chicago and around the globe, Muti demonstrates his strong commitment to sharing classical music broadly by regularly offering free concerts and rehearsals to the public and by performing in schools, prisons, and other community venues.

Riccardo Muti's vast catalog of recordings, numbering in the hundreds, ranges from the traditional symphonic and operatic repertoires to contemporary works. He also has written two books, Verdi, l'italiano (published in Italian and German) and Riccardo Muti: An Autobiography: First the Music, Then the Words, which has been published in several languages.

About the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (cso.org)
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Its music director since 2010 is Riccardo Muti, one of the preeminent conductors of our day. The venerable Pierre Boulez is the CSO's Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus; celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma is the CSO's Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant. Composers Mason Bates and Anna Clyne are the CSO's Mead Composers-in-Residence.

The renowned musicians of the CSO annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in downtown Chicago and, in the summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. The CSO also appears in other U.S. cities, and frequently tours internationally. Since its founding in 1891, the Orchestra has made 56 international tours, visiting 28 countries on five continents. At home and on tour, tickets are always in high demand and frequently sold out; occasional performances and rehearsals are free.

People around the globe enjoy the extraordinary sounds of the Orchestra and the Chorus through CSO Radio broadcasts and webcasts worldwide and through CSO Resound, a best-selling record label. Recordings by the CSO have won 62 Grammy Awards®. Through its Institute for Learning, Access, and Training, the CSO offers a variety of youth, community and education programs, all of which are based on the concept of Citizen Musicianship, using and promoting the power of music to contribute to our culture, our communities, and the lives of others.

The parent organization for the CSO is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA). It also includes the acclaimed Chicago Symphony Chorus, conducted by Duain Wolfe, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a training ensemble conducted by Cliff Colnot. Under the banner of a series entitled Symphony Center Presents, the CSOA also presents prestigious guest artists and ensembles from a variety of musical genres-classical, jazz, pop, world, and contemporary. Deborah F. Rutter, a highly regarded arts executive, is president of the CSOA.