Early career Since 1971, he has been a frequent conductor of operas and concerts at the
Salzburg Festival, where he is particularly known for his
Mozart opera performances. From 1972 Muti regularly conducted the
Philharmonia Orchestra in London and in 1973 he was appointed its principal conductor, succeeding
Otto Klemperer. In 1979, Muti became the music director and principal conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1986, he became principal conductor of the
Filarmonica della Scala, Milan, with which in 1988, he received the
Viotti d'Oro and toured Europe. In 1989, he conducted a live performance of Mozart's
Don Giovanni that was recorded on a DVD. In 1991, after twelve 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 of the
International Composing Competition "2 Agosto".
Berlin and Vienna Muti has been a regular guest of the
Berlin Philharmonic and the
Vienna Philharmonic. In 1996, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic during Vienna Festival Week and on tour to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Germany; he most recently toured with the Vienna Philharmonic to Japan in 2008. Muti has also led the orchestra's
Vienna New Year's Concert on seven occasions to date: in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018, 2021 and 2025.
Work in opera Apart from his work at Milan's
Teatro alla Scala, where he was music director for 19 years, Muti has led operatic performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and productions in the principal opera houses of Rome (from 1969), Ravenna, Vienna, London (from 1977), Munich (from 1979), and, finally, in 2010, New York. His work with the
Vienna State Opera has 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.
Appearances in Salzburg Muti first conducted at the
Salzburg Festival in 1971 with
Donizetti's
Don Pasquale (staged by Ladislav Stros). Muti has subsequently appeared regularly at the Salzburg Festival, conducting numerous concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic. After the death of
Herbert von Karajan in 1989, he took over the concert Karajan used to give with the Vienna Philharmonic on the
Feast of the Assumption of Mary (15 August), a public holiday in Austria, and was considered by some as his potential successor, although he never assumed any official position. Opera productions Muti 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, and designed by
Luciano Damiani) in 1995,
Die Zauberflöte in 2005 (staged by
Graham Vick) and 2006 (staged by Pierre Audi, stage 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, which was directed by
Peter Stein. For the 2017 Salzburg Festival, he conducted Aida, directed by
Shirin Neshat. Muti also owns a residence close to Salzburg. From 2007 to 2011, Muti was the artistic director of the
Salzburg Whitsun Festival. He conducted productions of rare Italian operas from the 18th century
Neapolitan School as well as concerts, with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, which he had founded.
Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy In July 2015, Riccardo Muti's desire to devote even more to the training of young musicians was realised: the first edition of the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy for young conductors, répétiteurs and singers took place with great acclaim at Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna and talented young musicians, as well as an audience of music-lovers from around the world participated. The academy has as its purpose to pass on to young musicians Riccardo Muti's experience and lessons and to make the audience understand in its full complexity the path to accomplish an opera production.
In the United States Philadelphia and New York In the United States, from 1980 to 1992 Muti was music director of the
Philadelphia Orchestra, which he led on numerous international tours. In 1979, he was appointed its music director and, in 1992, conductor laureate. Muti stated that his approach was to remain faithful to the intent of the composer. This meant a change from applying the lush "Philadelphia Sound," created by his predecessors
Eugene Ormandy and
Leopold Stokowski, to all repertoire; however, many of his recordings with that orchestra largely seem to do away with its hallmark sound, even in the works of such composers as
Tchaikovsky,
Brahms, and other high romantics. His sonic changes to the orchestra remain controversial. Some felt he turned it into a generic-sounding institution with a lean sound much favoured by modern recording engineers. Others believe Muti uncovered the true intention of the works, which had been covered in a silky sheen by Muti's predecessor. Since his departure from Philadelphia, he has made very few guest conducting appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, once in 2005, and most recently in 2024 conducting Verdi's Requiem. Muti had been a regular and popular guest conductor with the
New York Philharmonic. The orchestra's musicians had reportedly been interested – towards the end of the tenures of
Kurt Masur and
Lorin Maazel, and before Muti took the Chicago post – in having the conductor as their music director, but Muti stated that he had no wish to take on the position.
Chicago Muti had first guest-conducted the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in 1973 at the
Ravinia Festival but did not return as a guest conductor with the CSO until 2007.
Deborah Rutter, then president of the CSO saw him in Paris and persuaded him to come guest conduct and tour; he explained later, he thought he was too tired to start a "new adventure", but "immediately it was something that happened between me and the orchestra." In September 2021, the CSO announced a revision to Muti's contract as its music director, with an extension of the scheduled closing date of his tenure to the end of the 2022–2023 season. Muti announced that he will step down as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the end of the 2022–2023 season. According to classical music critic
Zachery Wolffe, his directorship in Chicago was an "enormous success" with "pristine yet intense, powerful yet graceful" performances of operas in concert, canonical orchestral pieces, new premiers, and "rarities of the past". In June 2023, it was announced that beginning in the 2024–2025 season Muti would be named Music Director Emeritus for life, and continue occasional performances.
End of tenure in Milan In 2003, there were reports of artistic and programming conflicts at
La Scala between musical director and principal conductor Muti and general manager Carlo Fontana. Muti did not attend the press conference that announced the 2003–04 season. The appointment in 2003 of Mauro Meli as La Scala's artistic director was intended to calm the conflict between Fontana and Muti. On 24 February 2005, La Scala governors dismissed Fontana as general manager and named Meli as his successor. The musicians sided with Fontana against Muti at this point in the dispute, and on 13 March, Muti stated that he would refuse to conduct the La Scala orchestra from that point on. On 16 March 2005, the orchestra and staff of La Scala voted overwhelmingly against Muti in a motion of no-confidence. Muti was forced to cancel a concert prior to the vote, and some other productions were disrupted at the theatre because of continuing rifts with Fontana's supporters. On 2 April, he resigned from La Scala, citing "hostility" from staff members. In August 2009, Muti was said to be named the next music director of the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, effective December 2010, but the news given by the mayor (and therefore president of Opera di Roma)
Gianni Alemanno was not true. Alemanno, instead, announced in October 2011 that Muti accepted an invitation by the Orchestra of Opera di Roma to become a "lifetime conductor" of Opera di Roma.
Political intervention On the night of 12 March 2011,
Rome's
Teatro dell'Opera staged the first in a series of scheduled performances of
Verdi's opera
Nabucco, conducted by Muti. After the end of the chorus "
Va, pensiero", which contains the
lyrics "Oh mia patria, sì bella e perduta" ("Oh my country, so beautiful and so lost"), the audience applauded "heartily." Muti, breaking with opera protocol and the strict conventions of composer Verdi himself, which would particularly affect the funding of the arts. He spoke of the need to keep culture alive in Italy, prompted, as he later stated, by the belief that "killing culture in a country like Italy is a crime against society. Culture is the spiritual glue that holds a people together." He then invited the audience to participate in an
encore of the "Va, pensiero" chorus – the invitation and the encore also a break from tradition for an opera performance. The opera audience stood up and sang along with the on-stage chorus. Muti recalls that "80 percent of the audience knew the lyrics" and sang along, while "some members of the chorus were in tears." On 18 March, the performance of
Nabucco was repeated in front of the former Italian president
Giorgio Napolitano and former prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi. Muti, who had stated that it had been the first time in his life that he conducted chorus and audience together and also the last, on that occasion conducted the Verdi opera in the "orthodox" manner. ==Personal life==