NEW YORK--()--Please replace the release dated September 7, 2010 with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.
“Making great music with the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is just the beginning”
The corrected release reads:
THIRTEEN’S “GREAT PERFORMANCES” FEATURES CONCERT FROM RICCARDO MUTI’S INAUGURAL SEASON AS MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27 AT 9 P.M. EDT ON PBS
Works by Paul Hindemith and Luigi Cherubini Featured
Distinguished conductor Riccardo Muti’s much-anticipated arrival as the tenth music director of the Windy City’s world renowned Orchestra is celebrated on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances in “The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Riccardo Muti Inaugural,” Wednesday, October 27 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS. (Check local listings.)
Great Performances is a production of THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.
The CSO concert, to be taped on October 14, will feature Paul Hindemith’s “Symphony in E-flat” and Luigi Cherubini’s “Requiem in C Minor,” the latter to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Muti is a passionate proponent of the music of Cherubini, the Italian composer revered by Beethoven and who mentored Berlioz. The piece will feature The Chicago Symphony Chorus, under the leadership of Duain Wolfe.
Muti’s vision for the CSO—to deepen the Orchestra’s engagement with the Chicago community, to nurture the legacy of the CSO while supporting a new generation of musicians, and to collaborate with visionary artists—signals a new era for the institution.
“Making great music with the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is just the beginning,” commented Muti. “The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and I will become ambassadors to the community and the world. We have a responsibility, as musical ambassadors, to serve our communities and we must not take this responsibility lightly. Chicago has a true treasure in the CSO, one that should be shared with as many people as possible.”
Born in Naples, Italy, Muti first came to the attention of critics and public in 1967, when he won the Guido Cantelli Competition for conductors in Milan. In 1971, Muti was invited by Herbert von Karajan to conduct at the Salzburg Festival, and has appeared there every year since. Muti has served as principal conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, chief conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and music director of the Teatro alla Scala. In 2006, he was appointed artistic director of Salzburg’s Pentecost Festival, and in 2010 he also becomes director of the Rome Opera.
Over the course of his extraordinary career, Riccardo Muti has conducted the most prominent orchestras in the world, from the Berlin Philharmonic to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic to the Orchestre National de France. He made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in July 1973.
A musical force in Chicago and around the world, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been consistently hailed as one of the finest international orchestras since its founding in 1891. In collaboration with renowned conductors and guest artists on the international music scene, the CSO performs well over 150 concerts each year at its home, Symphony Center, and in summer residency at the Ravinia Festival. The CSO’s appearance on Great Performances is made possible by the generous support of The Grainger Foundation, Lake Forest, IL.
Great Performances is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, Vivian Milstein, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS. Major support for the telecast is also provided by The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund. For Great Performances, John Walker, Cara Cosentino, and Julie Schapiro Thorman are producers; Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.
Visit Great Performances Online at www.pbs.org/gperf for additional information about this and other programs.
About WNET.ORG
New York public media company WNET.ORG is a pioneering provider of television and web content. The parent of THIRTEEN, WLIW21 and Creative News Group, WNET.ORG brings such acclaimed broadcast series and websites as Need To Know, Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Secrets of the Dead, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, Visions, Consuelo Mack WealthTrack, Miffy and Friends, Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps and Cyberchase to national and international audiences. Through its wide range of channels and platforms, WNET.ORG serves the entire New York City metro area with unique local productions, broadcasts and innovative educational and cultural projects. In all that it does, WNET.ORG pursues a single, overarching goal – to create media experiences of lasting significance for New York, America and the world. For more information, visit www.wnet.org.

