Riccardo Muti conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Photo: Todd Rosenberg)
SOAVE, Italy (AP) — Riccardo Muti will conduct a youth orchestra in an open-air concert launching the annual Ravenna Festival next month in what organizers billed Friday as Italy’s first live classical music performance since its strict lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus. The Italian government is permitting concerts and other live performances to begin on June 15, a time when most theaters are winding down their calendars and as summer festivals begin. Italy’s famed La Scala theater is looking at reopening only in September and the open-air opera festival at the Verona Arena has been canceled.
