Riccardo Muti on the Mend! Photos from Chicago

Andrew Patner reports from Chicago that CSO MD Riccardo Muti, in a show of gratitude to all the doctors at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital who cured him, threw a thank you concert a couple days ago. Muti had pacemaker surgery a few weeks ago in Chicago after it was discovered that he had been suffering from a heart rhythm disturbance after fainting during a rehearsal. Loads more photos can be found on Patner's website here!

Comments

[Lucy]

Aww, yay! How very nice. Glad to hear Maestro Muti's on the mend, not *just* selfishly because I'm looking forward to his concert Otello at Carnegie Hall in April.

[Andrew Patner]

Grazie mille!

[Ted]

See how these players love him? That is just so sweet. He looks great!

[Giuseppe]

This makes my entire week— no, it makes the whole year look brighter! Thnx OC!

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

The miracles of modern medicine--at least for some people.

[Willy]

So glad to hear he is on the mend. Hope he is resting and though I'm hoping he'll still do the Nabucco here in March if he has to cancel for the sake of his health then so be it. That's a lot more important than any performance.

[VN]

Hurray! He looks great! I'm so happy that everything went well. I'm also very torn between wanting him to rest fully and wishing he won't cancel Carnegie hall. But of course, the Maestro's health and happiness are most important.

[Kevin Edmund Youkilis 4MVP]

He looks better now than he did before the accident, good for him.

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

Maestro probably will not be very happy if he cannot make his "comeback" with the "Otello." I'm glad he is letting his hair go to its natural color instead of "Pavarotti ebony."

[walter]

WHAT?????!!!!!!!!!!!!
He does NOT dye his hair! He says so himself.

[C.S.]

Don't punish yourself, anymore Mr. Muti.
Go on holiday for the rest of the year.

[Ian]

http://commandopera.com/2011/02/25/viva-nabucco-in-rome/
For those interested in Nabucco next month.

Muti will have to make dramatic changes in his life if he is willing to find happiness.
I believe that he has the heart of a lion and in this fight -although wounded- he will be the winner and very much alive in the end.

[Noncy Cowans]

Ian , I have been waiting for your comment!

I was expected , but when I saw these potos, it was difficult to hide my tears. I can see , how he suffered from his injury.
He might have lost lot of weight, not only because of his liquid diet but also from the suffering. He got much gray hair as well.
I believe in his lion heart! All the imaginable happiness for his future!!! Noncy

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

@ C. S. Maestro Levine also should go on holiday and try to recoup his strength. He is suffering terribly these days between his two jobs with the Met and BSO.

[C.S.]

Bill: It is the greed as a symptom but the lack of security is the real cause.

[Chris]

Good Lord! Is this his wife? Poor man! He has the Gestapo beside him, made up and dressed like a clown and covered behind a pseudo-smiling mask.
She must envy him very much. I'm sure that she has been using him for her own glory, big fortune and publicity.
I read somewhere that she is the stage director and costume designer of some operas in minor theatres in Italy, although she has studied piano lessons and some singing only. She must have the right connections who allow her to do as she pleases and show so much arrogance.
Her hand is coiling round him like a snake ready for an assault in his pocket for euro pretending she loves him.
The orgy of hypocrisy indeed!

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

Wow!Chris, that was "cold"! I rather think they are a very simpatico couple. Clue? They look a lot alike, and even look like they are applauding the same way.

[Chris]

Hi Biil!
I'd rather say that they look like mum and her son. In fact they are quite different people.
A friend of mine who is a musician in Italy, told me that she was present in most of the rehearsals of operas spying on Muti and always intervened making insulting remarks at the singers, especially young women, causing frustration. Lots of quarells followed between her and Muti afterwards that led nowhere.
She thinks she is very clever and can manipulate everyone according to her plans.
I can still remember my friend's words that she has a "closed" heart .