Riccardo Muti yesterday conducted the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra (average age 23) in front of 5,000 spectators at a free concert in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. They performed extracts from Italian operas including Norma, Rigoletto and Nabucco. Over 200 local children who have benefitted from the work of Italian charities in Nairobi also entertained guests with music and acrobatics.
The concert, organised by Cristina Muti under the auspices of the Ravenna Festival, almost didn't go ahead. The Greek airline from which a plane had been chartered (and paid for) suddenly went bust, leaving the orchestra with no way of reaching Nairobi. Fortunately the British airline Titan were able to step in at short notice. The flight went ahead 12 hours late and with 110 of the 360-strong party (which included musicians, singers, parents, missionaries and journalists) left behind. With only the most essential personnel permitted aboard, the Italian press were stranded on the tarmac. Which explains the unusual angle of the photos....
