Muti to Lead Chicago Orchestra on Tours of Asia, Mexico

Italian maestro Riccardo Muti will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on tours of Mexico and Asia in the upcoming season, the orchestra said Tuesday.

The award-winning orchestra is widely regarded as one of the best in the world and received critical acclaim for its tour of Russia earlier this year.

Muti, a renowned conductor who has previously served as the music director of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and at Milan's renowned La Scala, has been the orchestra's music director since 2010.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's first tour of Mexico begins on October 8 with a performance at the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, followed by a concert at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City on October 10.

The program will be Verdi's Overture to Nabucco, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, and Brahms' Symphony No. 2.

Muti will also conduct the orchestra in its Taiwanese and Korean debuts as part of a series of Asian performances in January and February which includes two repertoires.

One program will be Stravinsky's Divertimento, Suite from The Fairy's Kiss; Busoni's Suite from Turandot, Op.41; and Brahms' Symphony No. 4.

The second program will be Verdi's Overture to I vespri siciliani, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3.

The tour begins with two performances at the Chiang Kai-Shek National Concert Hall in Taipei on January 25 and 26.

The orchestra will perform at the Hong Kong Cultural Center on January 28 and 29, the Oriental Arts Centre in Shanghai on January 31, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on February 3, the Tianjin Grand Theatre on February 4.

It will conclude the tour with performances at the Seoul Arts Center on February 6 and 7.

The orchestra will also perform three concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York October 3-5.