Guillaume Tell

Gioacchino Rossini ended his career as an opera composer at the early age of 37. "Guillaume Tell" (1829), his last stage work, was commissioned by the Paris Opéra. After this Rossini would only compose a few smaller vocal and instrumental pieces. Up to then, however, he had been the most important opera composer between Mozart and Verdi. Since the 1970s, the musical world has steadily been rediscovering Rossini's oeuvre, much of which has long vegetated in the shadow of "Il barbiere di Siviglia" or "La rentola." His musical dramas are now frequently encountered on leading operatic stages and at renowned festivals. This Milan production of "Guglielmo Tell" was an important milestone in the Rossini Renaissance. The aristocrat of conductors, the autocrat of the baton, Riccardo Muti cuts a noble figure at the head of any orchestra, and ennobles every ensemble through his charismatic personality and red-blooded musicality. In many respects, including his unwillingness to compromise over artistic matters, he is reminiscent of Arturo Toscanini, who was also a demanding ruler at the podium. His rise to international fame set in with his guest conductorships at the Salzburg Festival in 1971 and at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1972. Muti became principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra a few years later, and was named its music director in 1980. Always a conductor of both the symphonic and operatic repertoire, Muti advanced to the post of music director of La Scala in Milan in 1986. The 1990s saw Muti consolidating his reputation at the head of this venerable institution, as well as in countless other high-caliber venues around the world. Today he is one of the undisputed giants among the leading conductors of the world.