Carnegie Hall

During his extraordinary career, Riccardo Muti has conducted the most prestigious orchestras in the world. He has served as music director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Philharmonia Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Teatro alla Scala Orchestra (1986–2004), and Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2010–2023). In 2023, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—with which he won two Grammy Awards in 2011 for Best Classical Album and Best Choral Album for the recording of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem—named him Music Director Emeritus for Life.

The year 2020 marked the 50 anniversary of his continuous collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic. He has conducted the orchestra seven times at the Vienna New Year’s Concert, and their 2018 recording was certified Double Platinum. Since July 2011, he has been an honorary member of this orchestra. For the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in the opening concert at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, and then again in 2024, performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Vienna to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its premiere. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first subscription concert of Maestro Muti with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Since 2004, Maestro Muti has dedicated himself to the training of young musicians: He founded the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, composed exclusively of talented Italian musicians, and in 2015, he founded the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy for young conductors.

His civic commitment as an artist is reflected in the concerts presented as part of Le vie dell’Amicizia (The Paths of Friendship), a project of the Ravenna Festival, held in historically significant locations, both ancient and contemporary.

He has received more than 20 honorary degrees from the most prestigious national and international universities, as well as countless honorary titles by heads of state worldwide.

Visit riccardomuti.com for more information.

There is perhaps no musical ensemble more closely associated with the history and tradition of European classical music than the Vienna Philharmonic. For more than 180 years, this orchestra has experienced and influenced the course of music history around the world. Even now, prominent soloists and conductors refer to the unique “Viennese Sound” as the outstanding quality that sets it apart from other orchestras.

This fascination that the orchestra has held since it was founded by Otto Nicolai in 1842 is based upon the conscious maintenance of a homogenous musical style, and a unique history and organizational structure. The pillars of the “Philharmonic Idea” are a democratic organization that places the entire artistic and organizational decision-making process in the hands of the musicians themselves, and a close symbiosis with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Another unique feature of this democratic structure is that the orchestra itself organizes concerts, selects repertoire, and engages conductors and soloists.

The orchestra began touring in the early 20th century and has since traveled to every continent. In recent years, this has included regularly scheduled concerts in Germany, Japan, the US, and China. The orchestra has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Academy was founded in 2018. Academy students are selected in accordance with a strict, internationally oriented audition process and trained at the highest level during a two-year course of study.

The Vienna Philharmonic has made it its mission to communicate the humanitarian message of music into the daily lives and consciousness of its listeners. From the beginning, the orchestra has displayed a strong social consciousness, characterized by a commitment to individuals in need and the fostering of young musicians. Since 2008, it has been supported by its exclusive sponsor, Rolex.

The Vienna Philharmonic performs approximately 40 concerts in Vienna annually, among them the New Year’s Concert and the Summer Night Concert at Schönbrunn, which are broadcast in numerous countries around the world. The orchestra also has an annual summer residency at the Salzburg Festival and performs more than 50 concerts per year on its international tours. All these activities underscore the reputation of the Vienna Philharmonic as one of the world’s finest orchestras.