You read it here first: Muti focuses future opera work on Rome and Chicago

Photo: © Silvia Lelli

With Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director, longtime Salzburg Festival(s) fixture, and former La Scala m.d. Riccardo Muti about to turn 70 (!) tomorrow -- 28 July 2011 (in Salzburg) -- major Italian and Austrian publications are running "exclusive" interviews and stories discussing, among other things, Muti's desire to cut back on conducting operas at Salzburg and other houses/festivals and to limit his leading staged productions to Rome and concert versions to Chicago.  

You read it all here first five weeks ago, on June 16 in my June 19, 2011 Sunday Chicago Sun-Times interview with him from Salzburg.