Muti talks dirty

What makes Riccardo Muti a great Mozart conductor?

In an interview with French magazine L'Express (long, but well worth a read), he reveals his enormous asset:

"When I conduct Mozart with the Vienna Philharmonic, the orchestra naturally provides the Germanic side of the work. For my part, I bring the Italian influence. The combination of the two, especially for the operas, produces interesting results, with a lot of character.

My knowledge of the Italian of Da Ponte's text is important. His librettos often have a double meaning. The first layer is suitable for polite society. And then there's another one, untranslatable and often....very daring.  Mozart - who spoke excellent Italian - and his music often accompany the second meaning, not the first.

In Cosi fan tutte, when the two women recognise their lovers, they feel guilty. They say "Il mio fallo, tardi vedo." On the surface, this means "Too late I see my error". But the same phrase also means "I see the phallus" (of my lover)! In Italian, fallo has this dual meaning. It's not the same any more, is it?  This kind of double sense is found a lot, often concealing erotic words."

Comments

[Rannaldini]

Muti's conducting of Mozart rocks IMHO and the late symphonies on Philips are beyone perfection.

The modern super fast period recordings are full of bangs and knocks and whistles and seem very exciting upon initial hearings but soon fade, and one ends up asking "what else is there - whats deeper - why did he write this?" And Muti answers that like peeling layers off an onion revealing ever-more.

His 3 Da Ponte's are unrivalled as "through" works with a thematic line and a dramatic arc all the way through. With IM's permission I post this link to show my love of his mozart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eTlaE5y9hk

I sometimes feel that people might forget that these guys are the original "period" instrument band.

[Mike]

He would not need to speak dirty if he were satisfied with his sexual life, which has been happeninig for forty years now.

[Rose-Mary Hyslop]

Several HD uploads of Muti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic can be found on YouTube, and I watch them regularly. Apart from their excellent musical quality, Muti cuts an elegant and dashing figure. The visual spectacle is enhanced by superb lighting and filming. This is an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dNQjS1r6lE&feature=channel_video_title

[Liane Bierau]

If or when you read letters from Mozart to his father, you will see that for everyday's functions he uses words which we may or may not today consider as very outspoken or even crude. But this was apparently quite normal at that time in the German speaking countries.

[Rannaldini]

@Rose-Mary. Couldn't agree with you more. Here's one of my personal faves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA_OIg1Zeqo&feature=relmfu

[Diane]

Handel's operas are not without the odd mucky double-entendre either ...

[Mike]

http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/riccardo_muti_un_maestro_engage-6332858.html

[M.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiBs_1d9AjE