The erudite and prolific Lee "CultureGrrl" Rosenbaum has published (a few days ago ::sono in retardo::) an exalted prediction regarding the future leadership of the New York Philharmonic, and Opera Chic is sold.
CultureGrrl was in the audience at NYC's Avery Fisher Hall this past Saturday night for the Muti/Oppitz interpretation of Martucci, Verdi, and Respighi (that Opera Chic also attended a few days prior), and was duly entranced by the patented “Muti Mystique”.
She asserts that Riccardo Muti should be an eligible (and leading) candidate for Lorin Maazel's successor as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic (regardless of the fact that Maazel already named [quite publicly] Barenboim as his preferred successor).
CultureGrrl writes of the audience reaction on Saturday night in Avery Fisher Hall after the concert:
"While departing, strangers were exclaiming to one another about what they had just heard. Even the usher posted next to the escalator announced to everyone in earshot that she wanted the Philharmonic to choose Muti as director. And of course, while he's here, we need him to take over the Italian repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera."
As much as I prefer Muti to stay in Italy (for selfish reasons), this is like the best idea I've heard ev4r. Someone needs to get right on this.
btw: CultureGrrl, in her post, wonders about Muti’s Beethoven, and I must respond:
His Emperor will certainly be excellent, and generally remember, for the Beethoven piano works, the younger Beethoven is, the better Muti gets. Beethoven's symphonic work instead, is to me one of the (very very few) weak parts of Muti's repertoire -- if you check out the work that has been recorded (the official releases at least) you'll see a stormy (too stormy for my taste) Pastorale, a big-sounding -- but eventually empty-sounding Ninth.
Beethoven's symphonies are (for me) better left among living conductors: to the flawless Claudio Abbado and the daredevil Danny Barenboim (his Ninth at La Scala on 12/23/2005 almost killed me, and his recent Eroica in Toscanini's memory was just heartbreakingly Apollinean).
Of course, Muti's precision, clarity, and grace remain always, but he just doesn’t “get” Beethoven's symphonies the way he gets most other composers' works. And yeah, Muti’s Beethoven Ninth is not stellar, ok whatevs...but that exaulted work should be left to deceased giants like Furtwängler and Giulini and Jochum and Weingartner anyway).
Muti is a brilliant man, but not an intellectual, and his superhuman power of intuition is also his only major flaw: whenever he doesn't "get" a piece, he just doesn't...and he just won't (anyways, Muti instead conducted at La Scala in 1999 a very beautiful -- if disquieting -- Fidelio, a mighty difficult work).
The only truly problematic composer for Muti, in my opinion, is Wagner: Maestro Muti *really* doesn't "get" Wagner, and he therefore gets all mystical, thundering, and ultimately...leaden. Happily, I have a hard time digesting Herr Wagner anyway (aiight whatevs, I admit I have Furtwängler's Ring at La Scala; and aiight, Barenboim's beautiful Tristan, ok ok, and also Solti, but whatevs) so Muti's Wagner flaw is perfectly fine with me.
It's important to remember that we owe Muti a true re-discovery of Cherubini, a truly overlooked genius. The Muti-conducted Cherubini's Requiem in C Minor makes for a life-changing, transcendent experience. And Muti does a pretty bada$$ Händel, too. (Among the Maestro's quirks: he makes a point of conducting every once in a while Carmina Burana, and he makes it much less of a horiffic embarrassment than one would imagine...Muti's probably all like, "Aw hell...y'all think Carmina Burana is teh suck, eh? I'll show all y'all!").
To sum it up: Opera Chic truly thinks Muti is one of the foremost living conductors, one of the greats, and he is, by far, the greatest living Mozart conductor (especially the Mozart/da Ponte operas, but not just those). And as we all know, his Verdi is unforgettable (his Traviata Violetta dies of a broken heart, *not* consumption, his Trovatore makes you forget the crassness of so many parts -- "le belle zingarelle"!? ok wtf -- with the heartbreaking power and subtlety of the conducting, his Macbeth does true Shakespearean justice to Verdi's Shakespearean fetish: and, not even at thirty-years-old, Young Muti enchanted La Scala with an Attila that *still* has people in awe).
Ok, now that it's akk out of the way: Muti is poised to take over NYC! w00t! I'm gonna go h4x0r the Wikipedia page on The NY Philharmonic (j/k I would never, ever hax0r), but someone needs to draft an IM-esque petition campaign for Lorin, Zarin, and Chairman Paulie B. just to let them know the 411. Here...something like this:
hay guys MUTI 4 Mus1cal Direc0r guys omgz l0l!!111 seNd THis 2 ev3ry1 0N UR buDdy L1st 0r u w1LL diE 2nite!!! :-( :-p l0l j/p j/p j/k 0k 0k 0k.......but plz send newayz! tia.
vvvvvvvUPDATEvvvvvvv
Culturegrrl was responded to by Signore Alex Ross on her Muti pick, and he clearly marches to the beat of his own drummer. Oh dear!