Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy is a training project addressed to young conductors and répétiteurs from all over the world led by Maestro Riccardo Muti. This year, it is dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
From 19 to 30 November, the public attended lessons, rehearsals and concerts at the Deposito in the Milan venue of Fondazione Prada.
Riccardo Muti has always shared with young musicians what he learnt from his great masters about interpreting and performing an opera. At the helm of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, the Maestro undertakes an educational project each year with young orchestra conductors and répétiteurs aged between 18 and 35, selected through an international call for applications.
The selected young conductors are: Sara Corriga (Italy, 1992), Alma Deutscher (Ireland, 2005), Guo Hancheng (China, 2000), Hu Xiaobo (China, 1990), Korbinian Krol (Germany, 1997), Jakub Montewka (Poland, 1997), Keuntea Park (South Korea, 1991), Andrei Stanculescu (Romania, 1995), and Zhou Moyue (China, 1995). The selected young répétiteurs are: Annalisa Orlando (Italy, 1991), Giuseppe Ottaviani (Italy, 2001), Samuele Piccinini (Italy, 1993), and Haojing Sun (China, 2000).
The 2025 edition started on 19 November with a concert lecture by Riccardo Muti introducing Don Giovanni. This was followed from 20 to 26 November by rehearsals open to the public led by the Maestro, in which the young conductors and répétiteurs lead and accompany the orchestra, choir, and singers in the performance of the opera. The project ended with two appointments: on 27 November, the final rehearsal of the young conductors presented by Riccardo Muti, and on Sunday 30 November, the concert of Don Giovanni conducted by the Maestro.
Riccardo Muti Music (RMMUSIC) conceived and created the “Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy” in 2015, overseeing its organisation in Italy and internationally. The project was presented in 2019 in Japan in collaboration with the Spring Festival in Tokyo. In 2024, a new edition was held in Suzhou, China, in partnership with Vancy Culture Beijing.