In Tuesday’s (6/18) Chicago Sun-Times (free registration required), Andrew Patner reports, “While no contract has been signed or finalized, Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti told WFMT Radio and the Chicago Sun-Times in an exclusive interview that he hopes to extend his relationship with the CSO after his current five-year term ends in summer 2015. In an interview broadcast Monday night on WFMT’s ‘Critical Thinking,’ Muti said, ‘This is the orchestra that I find the natural instrument for me.’ It is customary for major symphony orchestras and opera companies to settle contract renewals at least two years ahead so that an organization can run a full search for a successor.… Citing a shared approach to music-making in three seasons of concerts in Chicago, extensive tours and a double Grammy Awarding-winning recording, Muti said the relationship is ‘enriching on both sides.’ The cooperating and ‘energy’ between them ‘convinced me that this is the instrument mainly with which to make music in the future for me.’ … Muti did admit that, at 71, he ‘increasingly feels homesick,’ even when in ‘this fantastic city’ for his native Italy.”
Posted June 19, 2013
