«This country has forgotten that opera is one of the pillars of our history and makes us admired throughout the world», says Riccardo Muti.
Which here explains why it should be studied since kindergarten Riccardo Muti has just held the Italian Opera Academy at the Prada Foundation in Milan with the children of Cherubini, the orchestra he founded in 2004, and with the young aspiring conductors from his words: Checco Zalone imitates Riccardo Muti, but he is in the room LONG LIVE THE ITALIAN SCHOOL –
They worked on the preparation of Bellini’s Norma, the quintessence of Bel Canto. Muti, a chiseling craftsman, patient and tireless until he gets what he wants: a note, a color, a pronunciation. The boys are concentrated, enraptured by his charisma. Muti eases the tension with anecdotes and a lot of self-irony: «After all, this is an easy job, which is why everyone wants to be a conductor». Even letting slip a few lines in Neapolitan, when he exhorts people to play vehemently: “Smash all things!”. Riccardo Muti receives us after rehearsals in his dressing room, while he caresses Cooper, a white Maltese puffer of fur.
«Italian schools are often criticized but I myself am a product of it. I studied at the Vittorio Emanuele in Naples and at the Conservatories of Naples and Milan. Today it is up to the individual teacher to try to instill love and interest in music and culture, the cornerstone of our country. Of course, school needs to be rethought: the methods, the subjects, the introduction of music teaching done in an intelligent way, and not in ways that often distance young people rather than bring them closer.” If you could, what would you do to defend our cultural heritage? «I don’t have a magic wand, not even when I conduct: the fact is that this country, we, the various governments have forgotten that music is one of the pillars of the history of Italy and that we are still admired throughout the world for our glorious past .
We not only invented opera but also different musical forms such as the concerto Grosso, and built the most precious instruments in the world: Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, Guadagnini. We have a history of music superior to all other countries. Today, however, even in the media, when we talk about music, the greatest space is not given to classical and operatic which are the forms for which we are first in the world. I would give much more weight, space and attention, starting from nursery school, to the culture of our country so that children grow up identifying with what Italy has done in the world, instead they feel like orphans.”
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