Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.classica
Titolo: Intervista a Muti

Ciao a Tutti,
Mi  appena capitata sottomano e non l'ho ancora letta, ma ho pensato di
postarla!
'Notte,
Lulu
********
Conductor Riccardo Muti Discusses Mozart, La Scala Squabble
(The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Bloomberg.)
By Shirley Apthorp
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- It's the day before the premiere of Mozart's
``The Magic Flute'' at the Salzburg Festival, and conductor Riccardo
Muti looks relaxed. In a crisp shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, with his
trademark mane of chestnut hair combed back, he strolls out to the gate
of his property, very much the master of the house.
Indeed, he is. Though he has homes in Milan and Ravenna, and spends far
more time in Vienna than in Salzburg, Muti has had a spacious, elegant
house built on a large property 15 minutes from the center of Salzburg.
``My wife made most of the design decisions,'' he says, ``so although
we have followed a traditional Austrian design, you will notice a very
Italian sense of light inside.''
On a comfortably upholstered couch, Muti calls for coffee, water and
biscuits. Italian or Austrian, there's a grandeur to the setting that
suggests a taste for comfort and an innate confidence about his place
in this world.
That's unsurprising, given the 65-year-old maestro's close relationship
with the Vienna Philharmonic and the fact that he has conducted at the
prestigious Salzburg Festival every year for the past three decades. Or
is it?
This year's ``The Magic Flute'' is the first opera that Muti has
conducted in Salzburg for a decade. Ten years ago, disagreements with
Gerard Mortier, the festival's director at the time, led to Muti's long
operatic abstinence. If that bothers him, it doesn't show.
`A Fable, a Farce'
``This opera is a fairy tale, a fable, a farce, a Masonic work, a
religious work, a piece with social and theological overtones,'' he
says, flinging a hand over the back of the sofa and leaning into the
cushions. ``It has everything together. The final message is the hope
of a better life, ethically speaking, which we can reach through
difficulties of different kinds.''
Muti knows all about different kinds of difficulties. His Salzburg
conflicts with Mortier and with stage directors Ursel and Karl-Heinz
Hermann over their 1992 staging of another Mozart opera, ``La Clemenza
di Tito'' (he left the city in protest), were nothing compared with his
stormy departure from the post of music director at La Scala in Milan
earlier this year.
Amid a welter of intrigue and scandal, Muti resigned in March. He had
been in the job for 19 years. Press reports detailed a vote of no
confidence from a meeting of 800 La Scala employees.
``Don't speak about La Scala now!'' says Muti. ``What you read in the
newspapers had nothing to do with what happened.''
Disaster in Milan
So what actually happened?
``It is very complicated,'' he says. ``But in fact I decided to leave a
situation which was a complete disaster. Already two years ago, I went
to press saying that the state of this theater was catastrophic. After
I left, Stephane Lissner arrived to take over the running of the house,
and he told the press, ``The situation here is catastrophic!'' Well, I
rest my case.''
Does he believe that Lissner will be able to sort things out? Muti is
silent for a moment, eyes narrowed.
``La Scala has weathered a great many storms,'' Muti says finally. ``La
Scala will find its own way. I'm happy to have done 19 years of good
work. And this was recognized, even by the people who fought me.
``Of course, I was against the way the theater was conducted. There was
no vision for the future, no strategy. Everything was collapsing. When
I took strong action against the people whom I considered responsible,
it ended as a kind of Italian tragedy.
``There were just too many problems. Political disagreements, the new
theater, personalities and vendettas, details and intrigues. It was
impossibly complex. In the end, it was like a Fellini film.
Musical Decisions
``In Italian theaters, music directors do not enjoy the sort of power
that they have at theaters in Germany or the U.S.,'' Muti says. ``There
is an Intendant, an artistic director who is responsible for the entire
season. The music director is just in charge of the orchestra, the
chorus and the musical quality. But in the mind of music lovers around
the world, the music director is identified with the theater. We don't
have any power, but we end up taking responsibility for everything that
goes wrong.''
In any case, Muti says, he is happy to have more time for himself, and
in no hurry to take up a new post as a music director. Perhaps that's
just as well. Otherwise, he might feel bitter about his decision to
turn down an offer to succeed Kurt Masur as music director of the New
York Philharmonic in 2002. At the time, he said his commitment to La
Scala was more important.
``In the course of my long musical career, I have been a music director
too often,'' Muti says. ``I was just 27 years old when I became music
director of the Maggio Musicale in Florence, which is Italy's
second-most-important musical institution after La Scala. Then there
was the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, then Philadelphia, then La
Scala. Now I want to enjoy the fact that I do the music for the
music.''
Castle View
Instead, he has extensive plans with the Vienna Philharmonic, and will
return to conduct both the Philharmonia and Philadelphia orchestras.
But he is evidently banking on having a little extra free time. He has
bought a new boat, which he keeps in Ravenna. Even closer to his heart
is the plot of land he has purchased in Puglia, close to his Neapolitan
birthplace and within sight of the 13th-century Castel del Monte, built
by the Hohenstaufen King Frederick II.
``This is one of the most beautiful castles in the world, and it's the
very first thing I remember seeing, when I was four years old,'' he
says. ``I have always thought that one day I would like to own a little
piece of land where I can see this castle. And I found it.
``On this land are several stone shepherds' cottages, typical buildings
in Puglia. It's a Franciscan lifestyle. A place to think, a place to be
with friends. The food is good, and there are sheep, and all kinds of
flowers -- the perfume is incredible. And above it all is the castle, a
very esoteric, mysterious presence.''
`Something Divine'
For now, though, it's the mysteries of Mozart that are uppermost in
Muti's mind.
``The Magic Flute is not about a dramatic situation,'' Muti sys. ``It's
a story about the elements of nature, animals, miracles, many things
together. Mozart is one of the few musicians who brings us to the level
where we feel that we are part of something divine. At the same time,
his operas always speak to people about people, without any
condemnation or judgment. That's one of the reasons why Mozart's operas
will never date. Because he tells us who we are.''
Muti conducts Mozart's ``The Magic Flute'' at the Salzburg Festival on
Aug. 8, 11, 17, 19, 21, 26 and 28.
Last Updated: August 5, 2005 02:27 EDT

GRANDE RICCARDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!