Riccardo Muti received the Birgit Nilsson Prize in October 2011 at a ceremony in the presence of the Royal Family at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. Gianandrea Noseda directed the Royal Swedish Orchestra, the Royal Opera Chorus and the Swedish Radio Choir in a performance of Va, pensiero from Verdi’s opera Nabucco and soprano Sondra Radvanovsky sang Tacea la notte placida from Il Travatore.
Comments
“Muti is a good choice, not just because he really is an excellent conductor, but also because when he does speak in public, he speaks very much in the spirit in which the Prize was conceived, either to articulate his sense of the centrality of classical music to civilization and morality, or to harangue against the short-termism of contemporary operatic and musical culture, which he feels exploits new talent while ignoring the need to cultivate it slowly …”
The Times Literary Supplement
Link to Riccardo Muti’s website