CSO Conductor Muti Faints During Rehearsal
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Symphony Orchestra conductor Riccardo Muti fainted during rehearsal on Thursday and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Thursday would have been his first concert since another illness forced him to spend three months in Italy receiving medical treatment.
A CSO spokeswoman said Muti did not lose consciousness, but did faint during Thursday morning's rehearsal. Eyewitnesses told the Chicago Tribune that Muti, 69, appeared to collapse and be unconscious when paramedics arrived.
The orchestra planned to go ahead with its Thursday and Friday concerts without Muti, CSO spokeswoman Maggie Berndt said.
The performances will now be led by conductor/pianist Mitsuko Uchida and conductor Leonard Slatkin.
Last fall, Muti withdrew from the CSO's gala "Symphony Ball" because "extreme gastric distress." He spent three months in his native Milan, Italy, to be treated by doctors who speak his native language.
The $2 million-a-year conductor returned to work in late January to begin rehearsals for a February residency, which kicks off Thursday night. Muti also has scheduled residencies in the spring as part of his five-year contract, the CSO said.
Muti first conducted the CSO in his 30s, and his return to the city had been highly anticipated. He made his debut as the CSO's music director last September, 16 months after he was picked as the successor to Daniel Barenboim, who retired in 2006.
