Wish Muti A Happy 69th, Win Free CSO Tickets
By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 28, 2010 6:20PM
To say that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is excited about Riccardo Muti, who turns 69 today, taking over as music director this fall is to plunge to the depths of understatement. The CSO has been without a full-time music director since Daniel Barenboim's departure in June 2006, and while the orchestra hasn't been rudderless - eminent musicians Pierre Boulez and Bernard Haitink have been frequent guests - having a consistent leader will help the ensemble evolve its unique voice. And Muti's virtues go far beyond just filling a void: in Muti, the CSO is getting an established musical presence at a time when other major orchestras are rolling the dice on promising whippersnappers with shorter track records, like the New York Philharmonic's 43-year-old Music Director Alan Gilbert, the Philadelphia Orchestra's 35-year-old Music Director Designate Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 29-year-old Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. So, there's good reason for the CSO to be excited, or borderline obsessive, even. We won't be so understanding if we happen upon a creepy shrine in some tucked-away corner of Orchestra Hall, but for now there's only this benign, if goofy, video sending Muti birthday well-wishes.
To get you to join the celebration, the CSO is holding a contest on its Facebook page. Post your own birthday greeting on the CSO's Wall - words, photo, or video (please, people, keep it decent) - and the most creative entry, as judged by CSO staff, will win a pair of tickets to Muti's inaugural concert in Millennium Park on Sunday, September 19. That concert is free, but the tickets will get you actual seats in the front section of the Pritzker Pavilion. The winner will also receive a CD from the CSO's Resound record label. The deadline for entries is the end of the day on Friday. And if you're looking for further inspiration, today also marks the anniversary of Muti's CSO debut at Ravinia back in 1973.
As for Muti's own birthday plans, a CSO spokesperson said he's not in Chicago. Of course, that's exactly what someone would say to throw us off the scent.
(Just kidding, he's actually in Austria preparing for this weekend's Salzburg Festival performance of Gluck's "Orpheus and Eurydice.")
(Probably...)