Verdi’s sacred fresco

For his first series of concerts as music director designate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti chose to perform Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, a work that has been a central milestone throughout his whole carreer. That the expectations for this event were high was proven by the fact that the three scheduled performances quickly sold out, and that the local press dedicated much attention to the performances. The outcome was extraordinarily successful: the audience followed the concert with remarkable attention, providing the evening with an atmosphere of that particular energy typical of only the most important occasions. At the conclusion, Maestro Muti, the soloists, the orchestra and the chorus were greeted with a ten-minute long standing ovation.Riccardo Muti proved himself to be a first-rank interpreter of the work, and one…