Riccardo Muti’s eyes shine when he talks about the Wiener Philharmoniker. Friends, great friends, brothers in art and beauty, even before extraordinary musicians. “This orchestra has been a companion in my life since 1971, year after year, without interruption – he says –. I worked with young musicians who then passed the baton to others, over the generations. There is affection and mutual respect between us : I am proud of their musical culture, and I try to preserve it and give it back to them.” And the Wieners reciprocate the same feelings: “Maestro Muti plays an exceptional role in our history – underlines Daniel Froschauer, president of the historic orchestra – He conducted us in more than five hundred concerts, and ours is an almost unique bond, made of wonderful artistic affinity, but also of a deep friendship. With his work he has shaped our repertoire and our sound in a unique way.”
Just a few days ago in Vienna, in the splendor of the Golden Hall of the Musikverein (the same one that will bring them together again for the next New Year’s Eve broadcast worldwide), the Maestro celebrated with the Wieners the two hundredth anniversary of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony: ” It was a very powerful moment for me. This symphony carries within it the aspiration for universal brotherhood, a great message for this world in flames that seeks peace.”
After the days in Vienna (followed by a concert at the Waldbühne in Berlin, a great musical tour of Europe), Riccardo Muti wanted to bring ‘his’ Wieners back to Italy for a very short but equally intense tour.
Last night they opened triumphantly, in a riot of real ovations, the 35th edition of “Ravenna Festival”, in front of more than 3500 spectators at the Pala De André (which does not resemble the Musikverein but certainly shared its atmosphere for two hours and emotion), this afternoon they will play at the Florentine Maggio musical and tomorrow evening at the Petruzzelli in Bari, three places very dear to the Maestro, stages of his life and his long, unparalleled career.
For the triptych of concerts, Riccardo Muti has chosen a program with a Viennese flavour, starting from the colors of Symphony no. 35 Haffner: Mozart composed it in 1783, transforming a serenade written on the fly for a Salzburg merchant, a fascinating flight between the graceful andante, the playful minuet and the final rondo that Amadeus wanted performed “as fast as possible”. Then the power of Symphony no. 9, “the Great”, which Franz Schubert completed in 1828, a few months before his death, and never managed to listen to: ten years later, Schumann rediscovered it among almost forgotten papers and entrusted it to the direction of Mendelssohn, extolling its “divine length”, life which in this score is present “in all its fibres, down to the finest nuance”, as if to prefigure romantic symphonism.
Royal and dancing Vienna also in the encore, that Kaiser-Walzer by Strauss which is now an emblem of every New Year’s Eve. Riccardo Muti’s direction enhances the clarity of every detail of these pages which the Wieners perform with the clarity that distinguishes them, and the concert thus becomes a full experience, a moment of enchantment. “From the Wieners I learned a lot about what the Viennese sound is, to be kept absolutely intact, and at the same time I brought them my culture”, adds the Maestro.
A culture of that Italy which – Riccardo Muti never tires of reiterating – was a milestone in the history of music, the homeland of great composers such as Palestrina, Monteverdi, Corelli. Italy which also boasts a ‘musical’ language which in itself is poetry and song. Just the day before yesterday the historic Accademia della Crusca decided to award Riccardo Muti the title of “Meritorious of the Italian language”.
“It is a great honor for me – confides the Maestro – Even if I am not a writer or a poet, I have always said and repeated everywhere that Italian is the most beautiful language in the world. For this reason, to all the singers or conductors of orchestra I have always recommended full understanding and respect for the meaning of every word: in Verdi’s operas, for example, for every word there is a note, a chord, and you cannot betray it, as Italy has reminded us Dante, it is the beautiful country where the yes sounds. And beauty always lives here.”
