© Zani-Casadio
Opening concert
Wiener Philharmoniker
conductor Riccardo Muti
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 35 in D major K. 385, Haffner
Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 9 in C major D. 944, Die Große (The Great)
«I have learned a lot from the Wiener: their sense of phrasing, especially in their repertoire; their timbre, colour, and Mitteleuropean culture. This type of sound, together with my Italian heritage, has resulted in a combination that I have always tried to pass on to all the orchestras I have conducted». Since his first invitation to conduct them in Salzburg in 1971—when some of the senior musicians among them had been playing under Toscanini and Furtwängler—Riccardo Muti’s bond with the Vienna Philharmonic has never been broken. This bond has developed into a steadfast friendship, nurtured by deep mutual esteem. It is not a coincidence, then, that he will conduct his seventh New Year’s Concert in 2025, nor that he will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on the same rostrum. And now the Maestro is on tour, an Italian of unrivalled talent chosen to recreate the essence of Vienna through the music of Mozart and Schubert.
