Riccardo Muti (Italian: [rikˈkardo ˈmuːti]; born July 28, 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is the current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously worked with the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, he was given the title of music director emeritus in Chicago.

Muti is a recording artist who has created many musical recordings. He has received several honors, including two Grammy Awards. He is well known for his work with the music of Giuseppe Verdi. In a 2015 survey by Bachtrack, music critics ranked him as the fifth best living conductor in the world.

Childhood and education

Muti was born in Naples but lived in Molfetta, near Bari, in the Apulia region on Italy's southern Adriatic coast during his early childhood. His father, Domenico, was a doctor who studied diseases and also enjoyed singing and music. His mother, Gilda, was a quiet and strict woman from Naples and had five children.

Muti completed his high school education at the Classical Lyceum Vittorio Emanuele II in Naples. He then studied piano at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella in Naples under Vincenzo Vitale and received a diploma with honors. Later, he earned a diploma in Composition and Conducting from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where he studied with composer Bruno Bettinelli and conductor Antonino Votto. He also studied composition with Nino Rota, whom he considers a teacher who greatly influenced him. In 1967, Muti was chosen as the top winner by all judges in the "Guido Cantelli Competition for Conductors" in Milan. The following year, he became the main conductor and music leader of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, a position he held for eleven years.

Career

Since 1971, he has often conducted operas and concerts at the Salzburg Festival. He is especially known for his performances of Mozart operas there. From 1972, he regularly conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. In 1973, he became its principal conductor, taking over from Otto Klemperer.

In 1979, he became the music director and principal conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1986, he became principal conductor of the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan. In 1988, he received the Viotti d'Oro award and toured Europe with the orchestra. In 1989, he conducted a live performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni, which was recorded on a DVD. In 1991, after 12 years as music director, he announced his resignation from the Philadelphia Orchestra, effective at the end of the 1991–1992 season.

In 1995, he was the president of the jury for the International Composing Competition "2 Agosto." He has frequently guest-conducted with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1996, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic during Vienna Festival Week and on tours to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Germany. He most recently toured with the Vienna Philharmonic to Japan in 2008. He has also led the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert seven times: in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018, 2021, and 2025.

In addition to his work at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, where he was music director for 19 years, he has led operatic performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and productions in major opera houses in Rome (since 1969), Ravenna, Vienna, London (since 1977), Munich (since 1979), and New York (in 2010). His work with the Vienna State Opera included Aida in 1973, La forza del destino in 1974, Norma in 1977, Rigoletto in 1983, Così fan tutte in 1996 and 2008, Don Giovanni in 1999, and The Marriage of Figaro in 2001.

He first conducted at the Salzburg Festival in 1971 with Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (staged by Ladislav Stros). He has appeared regularly at the festival, conducting many concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic. After Herbert von Karajan’s death in 1989, he took over the concert Karajan used to give with the Vienna Philharmonic on August 15, a public holiday in Austria. Some people thought he might replace Karajan, but he never held an official position.

Opera productions he conducted in Salzburg included Così fan tutte (staged by Michael Hampe) from 1982 to 1985 and from 1990 to 1991, La clemenza di Tito (staged by Peter Brenner) in 1988 and 1989, Don Giovanni (staged by Michael Hampe) in 1990 and 1991, La traviata (staged by Lluis Pasqual, designed by Luciano Damiani) in 1995, Die Zauberflöte in 2005 (staged by Graham Vick) and 2006 (staged by Pierre Audi, designed by Karel Appel), Otello (staged by Stephen Langridge) in 2008, Moise et Pharaon (staged by Jürgen Flimm) in 2009, and Orfeo ed Euridice (staged by Dieter Dorn) in 2010. In 2011, he conducted a new production of Verdi’s Macbeth, directed by Peter Stein. For the 2017 Salzburg Festival, he conducted Aida, directed by Shirin Neshat. He also owns a home near Salzburg.

From 2007 to 2011, he was the artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. He conducted rare Italian operas from the 18th-century Neapolitan School and led concerts with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, which he founded.

In July 2015, his goal to train young musicians was realized: the first edition of the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy for young conductors, répétiteurs, and singers took place at Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna. Talented young musicians and music lovers from around the world participated. The academy aims to share his experience and help audiences understand how to create an opera production.

In the United States, from 1980 to 1992, he was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, leading many international tours. In 1979, he became its music director and, in 1992, was named conductor laureate. He stated his approach was to stay true to the composer’s intent. This meant changing from the "Philadelphia Sound," a style created by his predecessors, to all repertoire. However, many of his recordings with the orchestra seemed to move away from that style, even in works by composers like Tchaikovsky and Brahms. His changes to the orchestra’s sound remain controversial. Some people thought he made the orchestra sound generic, while others believed he revealed the true intention of the works. Since leaving Philadelphia, he has conducted the orchestra only a few times, most recently in 2024 for Verdi’s Requiem.

He was a regular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra’s musicians reportedly wanted him to be their music director during the later years of Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel’s tenures, but he declined the position.

He first guest-conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in 1973 at the Ravinia Festival but did not return as a guest until 2007. Deborah Rutter, then president of the CSO, helped bring him back. In 2007, he became the CSO’s music director.

In 2017, he became the CSO’s music director. He

Personal life

Riccardo Muti is married to Maria Cristina Mazzavillani, who started and leads the Ravenna Festival. Together, they have two sons, Domenico and Francesco, and a daughter named Chiara. Chiara is married to the pianist David Fray.

In 2010, Muti wrote a book about his life. The next year, the book was translated into English and released as Riccardo Muti: An Autobiography: First the Music, Then the Words. John von Rhein, a music critic from the Chicago Tribune, called Muti’s memoir "fascinating."

Repertoire and recordings

With the Philadelphia Orchestra, he has recorded a complete set of Beethoven's symphonies, the symphonies of Brahms and Scriabin, selected works by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, and less well-known pieces by composers such as Puccini and Busoni.

Muti is recognized as one of the world's top conductors of Verdi's operas. He also directed annual concert performances of operas by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, and Wagner. In 1992, Muti conducted a performance of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with Luciano Pavarotti. A recording of this performance was made.

At La Scala, Muti was known for performing works from the Classical and early Romantic periods that are not often performed, such as Lodoiska by Cherubini and La vestale by Spontini.

Recognition

• In 1980, Muti was appointed a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 1990, he was promoted to a Knight Grand Cross of the same Order. In 1997, he received a Golden Medal of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art.
• Muti became an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM) in 1981.
• In 1989, Muti was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
• In 1996, Muti received an honorary degree from the University of Pavia.
• In 2000, Muti was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).
• In 2003, Muti was awarded a doctorate honoris causa by the Universitat de Barcelona on 13 October.
• In 2008, Muti was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• On 4 June 2010, Muti was appointed a Commander of the Legion of Honour by then French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
• In 2011, Muti was made a Member of Russia's Order of Friendship.
• In 2012, Muti was made Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI.
• In 2013, Muti was named Honorary President of EMMA for Peace, a network of music institutions.
• On 20 June 2014, Muti received an honorary degree from Northwestern University in Evanston.
• On 3 July 2016, Muti was awarded the 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star of Japan's Order of the Rising Sun.
• On 1 July 2018, Muti was awarded the 3rd Class, Order of Merit (Ukraine).

• In 2010, Muti won two Grammy Awards: Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance for Verdi: Requiem.
• In 2011, Muti received the Birgit Nilsson Prize and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts.
• In 2018, Muti was awarded the Praemium Imperiale.
• In 2025, Muti will receive the Ratzinger Prize.