“Ois Chicago,” is what people like to say in Munich, which translated from Helmutdietlian means something like “all clear.” The Munich classical music audience can now feel a bit of a real Chicago feeling when the old and then also the designated chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform in the Isarphilharmonie in the coming weeks. With a short time gap you can then make a direct comparison and perhaps also have a say in the generational discourse that has recently become quite heated.
We’re talking about Riccardo Muti (Isarphilharmonie, Munich Philharmonic, May 30th, 31st and June 1st). He led the famous American orchestra from 2010 to 2023 and is now its honorary conductor for life. His successor, the Finn Klaus Mäkelä, (Isarphilharmonie, Philis, June 20-22) will take over the traditional orchestra at the beginning of the 2026/27 season. What are they upset about in Chicago and elsewhere in the world of classical music? Age is a big issue here. Ageism, i.e. age discrimination the other way around, because it’s not just Riccardo Muti himself, who turns 83 in July, who proves that one can appear cheerful at the conductor’s desk well past retirement age. Lots of others come to mind, like Herbert Blomstedt, soon to be 97, or Zubin Mehta, 88.
Klaus Mäkelä, born in 1996, could be her grandson. The 28-year-old’s steep rise to one of the most sought-after conductors in the world has left many critics uneasy. It is said that the Millennial is simply too hyped, although it is often forgotten that this is not really unusual either. Herbert von Karajan was 26 when he first conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, and Zubin Mehta became head of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at 26, Muti led the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino at 28.
Then there is the accusation of accumulating positions, as Mäkelä currently leads the Oslo Philharmonic and the Orchester de Paris. Jobs that he will give up when he becomes chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam from 2027 and also chief conductor in Chicago in the same year. Two conductor positions is now the rule rather than the exception.
But let’s leave Chicago (after all, Munich has its own conductor clinch at the State Opera). And take a look at further concert highlights in May. Who else is coming? The former conducting prodigy Daniel Harding (born 1975) will give a concert with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on May 16th and 17th in the Herkulessaal. pianist Daniil Trifonov, 33, plays with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Roma under Jakub Hrůša, 44, Gershwin and Rachmaninoff (Isarphilharmonie, May 16). The Munich violinist is on the same day Arabella Steinbacher42, can be heard with the Munich Symphony Orchestra and Nodoka Okisawa on the podium in the Prinzregententheater (Korngold and Weill).
Oh yes, at the beginning of June, here’s a preview, coming then Lorenzo Viotti, 34, to Munich, whose Instagram channel is talked about more than his conducting. But more on that next.