Live performances have been few, far, and between in the pandemic. However, Maestro Riccardo Muti hopes to remedy that by reopening the Italian musical season in Ravenna after hopefully the final round of pandemic closures. The 79-year-old conductor on Sunday showed how he’s still able to command a stage by flicking his baton to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s first live performance since the fall. They kept it safe with socially distancing and mask-wearing but the audience still enjoying the incredible music played.
The evening concerts of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms launched a three-stop Italian tour by the Vienna Philharmonic to celebrate 50 years of ties with the conductor and served as a precursor to the summertime Ravenna Festival. Muti alluded to it being the right time to have this concert because emotion is rebirth. Even with the positivity, there’s a regret of loss. During the year, many people have experienced this feeling. Also, he said the fact that nearly the whole world experienced a stop of theaters, and orchestras were reduced to silence. This is something the world has never experienced before. Muti still hasn’t been able to return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this year, where he’s been musical director for a decade. While it was a triumph to perform at the traditional Vienna New Year’s Day concert, it was to an empty concert hall. Like many in the industry, he urged the government to fund culture because music is a good healing tool for the mental health toll due to the pandemic.
A little over a year ago, Muti reopened the European musical season after Italy’s spring lockdown with an outdoor concert. The hope was that the summer music festival would create a smooth flow in the fall. However, virus spikes and variants ended that quickly. As a result, musicians have lost income and that in-person connection with their fans. Muti made a point that if we all really looked at how we’re living currently, we go crazy. However, we have to maintain an illusion that this is normal now so that we can actually make it to the end to see the light. Muti is starting to get back into concert life starting with the 50th-anniversary tour with the Vienna Philharmonic tour and the Ravenna Festival. Also, Muti plans to return to Chicago in the fall.
The Ravenna Festival, founded by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti (Muti’s wife), reopens on June 2 with an ambitious program to get musical, dance, and theatrical performances back in play. General manager Antonio De Rosa says, “It is a return of hope.”