Celebrating Maestro Riccardo Muti on His 85th Birthday

Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, born on 28 July 1941, turns 85. Podium’s “Golden Recordings” series highlights his distinguished career, noting his past roles as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra (appointed 1979) and the Chicago Symphony, his work at Italy’s Teatro alla Scala, and his ongoing demand as a guest conductor worldwide. The feature showcases recordings such as Ottorino Respighi’s *Pini di Roma* with the Philadelphia Orchestra (1985), Sergei Prokofiev’s Suite for Orchestra No 2 with the same ensemble (1983), and Giuseppe Verdi’s *Requiem* performed by the Chicago Symphony. It also notes that Muti has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert seven times.