Chicago snags Muti

Riccardo Muti will be the next music director of the Chicago Symphony. The conductor and orchestra signed a five-year contract, beginning in the 2010-11 season, calling for him to appear for at least 10 weeks per season and to lead tour performances.

The 66-year-old Italian succeeded Eugene Ormandy at the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1980 and stayed for 12 years. Muti was music director of La Scala for 19 years until an artistic-political dispute prompted his resignation three years ago.

Daniel J. Wakin reports on Muti's Chicago appointment in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/arts/music/06muti.html

The Chicago Tribune's John von Rhein analyzes the Muti appointment:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-riccardo-muti-chicago-symphony-orchestra,0,1474490.story?track=rss

(Check out the video of news reader mispronouncing "Muti" and soundless footage of orchestra and chorus conducted by Leonard Slatkin.)