February 1–8, 2001
music
Italy Rules
Why the Philadelphia Orchestra can’t seem to lure Riccardo Muti back to Philly.
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Odd man out: Muti will not guest conduct for the Orchestra. |
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But what about the guy who first initiated the drive for a new concert hall?
Riccardo Muti complained about the acoustics at the Academy when he became music director in 1980, and agitated for a new hall.
Resistance to that, and his frustration, was largely responsible for his resignation from the Orchestra in 1992.
But Muti’s name was never mentioned on Monday — not even as one of the 12 guest conductors announced for next season, although according to spokesperson Judith Kurnick, management has been trying to lure Muti back, knowing that he would draw capacity crowds. So why can’t they get him?
A recent visit by this writer to Italy revealed why.
When you arrive in Milan, the evidence is all around you. Muti’s conducting makes the front page of all the newspapers, even La Gazzetta Dello Sport, which on Dec. 14, 2000, ran a headline saying that Muti "failed to go for the goal when he was in scoring position." The story referred to the fact that Muti didn’t allow his tenor to sing the optional high Cs in the big aria, "Di quella pira," in Il Trovatore.
Bookshop windows display coffee-table books about Muti.
A record store has a huge photo of Muti on its wall, equal in size to a picture of Giuseppe Verdi, the revered Italian composer and patriot whose death a hundred years ago was observed last week.
Italian TV ran a New Year’s spot that featured video and still images of Muti, ending with the maestro wishing the country Buon Anno.
The Italian TV version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire featured a question about Muti: What’s the most recent opera that he conducted at La Scala? Sure enough, the contestant gave the correct answer without having to use a lifeline.
Inside the opera house you see even more reasons Muti remains in his native country. Five minutes before showtime, house lights are turned off. If you don’t arrive early, you have to tiptoe to your seat in the dark. Then everyone sits quietly waiting for the spotlight that shows the maestro’s entrance. Even in Leopold Stokowski’s glory days at the Philadelphia Orchestra, when he scolded dowagers for leaving early, he never did anything so bold to ensure prompt arrivals.
And they love Muti in Italy, even while they fear him.
He drives orchestral players and singers so hard that they speak of going on a "Muti diet," a bland regimen that’s needed to calm their stomachs and their nerves.
I remember my first interview with him, for All Things Considered on National Public Radio, when he was named to his Philadelphia position in 1979. I found the 38-year-old Muti to be engagingly confrontational when I mentioned that some commentators wished the title had gone to an American.
"Well then, let them hire an American," he said then. "I didn’t ask for this job. I’ll go back to Italy and they can hire whomever they wish."
At other meetings during his Philadelphia years, he was always pleasant but with a distinct reserve.
Not anymore, not on his home turf.
Backstage after a La Scala performance of Il Trovatore in December I found him relaxed, cordial, jovial, outgoing. Totally at home. Now 59, his magnetic brown eyes sparkle and his long hair is still jet black.
Every music-lover who has grown up in Philadelphia has heard that the Academy is a copy of La Scala. Immersed in this myth, Philadelphians can’t understand why Muti criticized the Academy and preferred La Scala. But I see vast differences. La Scala’s auditorium is much wider, longer and taller. While the Academy has three balcony tiers, La Scala has six. La Scala has far more seats on its ground floor than the Academy. When I saw Muti after the performance, I told him that the extent of the differences surprised me.
"You see," Muti said. "You are absolutely right. The two houses are nothing alike, but people in Philadelphia say that they are. I tried to tell them but they wouldn’t listen. This is an example of the lies that some Philadelphians tell. There were other lies. I love Philadelphia and I lived there for years, but people said I didn’t. It made me angry."
Muti refers to the frequent criticism of him as an outsider. Some Philadelphians compared him unfavorably to previous conductors who made permanent homes here. Muti kept his principal residence in Italy, where he raised his family. But Muti’s perception is that he made a home in Philly, yet he was rejected as a carpetbagger.
He complained about the Academy and wanted fast action on building a new hall. But Muti never convinced Philadelphia patrons and donors. There was a communication gap on this issue that still frustrates him today.
"I love Philadelphia and the people of Philadelphia," he says. "Your city has a lot to be proud of. But people shouldn’t claim what isn’t true."
Is he curious to see and hear the new concert hall in Philadelphia?
Not particularly.
Muti conducts symphonic concerts as well as opera with the La Scala orchestra and makes guest appearances in Europe.
"I’m going to lead La Scala on a world tour," he says.
"I have so much to do with this orchestra that I can’t consider any other engagements. I can’t even think about conducting in America," he said.
He’s comfortable now, right where he is.
For a complete schedule of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2001-2002 season, visit www.philorch.org.
