Riccardo Muti

"There's Norman Carol - he's got what I've got in my shoulder: tendinitis," the woman remarked. "Isn't it good to see him! He hasn't been here for a while. "Muti will be out soon. Oh - a white suit this time. Look at that fit!" Welcome to the bleachers at the Mann Music Center, which are designed to separate the masses from the paying elite. The woman who was introducing her brother to the Philadelphia Orchestra's concertmaster certainly wasn't a plebe. She spoke quietly before the music began, talking proudly of concertmaster Carol as though he were a friend.

The Long Goodbye for Riccardo Muti, which began with his gala and nationally televised concert April 22, continues this weekend as the Philadelphia Orchestra performs its last set of subscription concerts with its music director. Characteristic of the maestro who abhors equating the arts with entertainment, his final program, heard last night at the Academy of Music, is a lovely and serious one. It represents well the values he has insisted on and inspired during his tenure. Who else would choose Rossini's sorrowful Stabat Mater and Cherubini's sole and unfamiliar Symphony in D Major as farewell music?

Any other conductor would test an audience's loyalty with a Philadelphia Orchestra program featuring particularly bizarre modern music. But Simon Rattle knows his people. And though he programmed György Ligeti (as might Christoph Eschenbach), and, at one point, swiveled around and yelled toward the audience (as did Riccardo Muti), there was no loss of good will and, in fact, a standing ovation on Thursday for Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre . A significant ingredient was Barbara Hannigan, the Canadian new-music diva whose charisma, voice and unreserved sense of showmanship were put to great use in a scene from the Ligeti opera Le Grand Macabre , in which she plays a police chief hysterically, nonsensically warning that the end of the world is near.

The Philadelphia Orchestra's programs sometimes sound like the breathless messages from an old friend with so much to tell and so little time to say it. There is scant time and place to present everything worthy of performing - the new, the old, the neglected, the music hidden behind some nationalistic curtain. Riccardo Muti led one of those breathless programs yesterday at the Academy of Music. There was a premiere; there was a Tchaikovsky piece that had dropped from sight and was being rediscovered; there was a 20th-century masterpiece more discussed than played, and there was a new young piano soloist looking to find her place in this musical tumult.

Philadelphia gave a rousing, festive and occasionally sentimental sendoff to Riccardo Muti last night, at once celebrating his 20-year association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and regretting his departure as its music director. Muti, however, may have felt like a man required to bake his own birthday cake. The maestro conducted his own farewell concert, held in the Academy of Music before a capacity audience that showered the conductor with ovation after ovation. The celebration began at 6 in the 12th-floor conservatory of the Hotel Atop the Bellevue, as 400 orchestra patrons (those who have made $500 in contributions to an education fund in Muti's name)

CHANNEL 6's Rob Jennings (left) turns a newsy 64 on Wednesday. The stars say the year ahead for the 35-year WPVI-TV veteran will be a good one, filled with action. In other words, Jennings will continue on his A game. Honestly, we expect nothing less. Abington-born stand-up comic and star of the Broadway adaptation of "The Wedding Singer" Stephen Lynch will be 41 Saturday. Former Philadelphia Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti, KYW Newsradio anchor Ed Abrams and former Channel 6 reporter Susanne LaFrankie also turn the page on a new year Saturday.

FORMER Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Riccardo Muti yesterday was awarded the $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize for his "extraordinary" contributions and influence in the world of music. Muti, conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , has also been conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Teatro alla Scala . "Maestro Muti is being recognized for his extraordinary contributions in opera and concert, as well as his enormou s influence in the music world both on and off the stage," the jury said in the citation.

When the Philadelphia Orchestra arrived here Thursday afternoon on its first Pennsylvania tour in five years, it was informed of one fact right away: Even for just an evening, Riccardo Muti wasn't the most famous Italian name in town. Muti had been warned, however. He has yet to make his debut appearance at an American football game, but he did arrive well-briefed about Penn State, football and coach Joe Paterno. Although the maestro confined himself to an intellectual understanding of the situation, some of his players got an on-site view of the school's best- known public activity.

Students waiting in the cold for rush seats to I Pagliacci last month cheered when Riccardo Muti passed the Academy of Music. Their response was Muti's clearest signal during his recent period with the Philadelphia Orchestra that his tenure had caught public imagination and excitement. As he waved and laughed, he commented that these were the people he had tried to reach as part of his vision of what the music director should be. He said it a little wistfully. In the waning months of his final season as music director - he will relinquish the title in May - he has spoken frankly about his disappointment that the City - with a capital C - is not behind the orchestra, and that the orchestra itself is in danger of slipping into eclipse as technological advances pass it by. Disappointment, he stressed, is possible only if you love something.

The Philadelphia Orchestra last night played its debut at the Salzburg Festival, the most prestigious of Europe's music celebrations. It was a debut that touched off an unusual ovation after the first half, and at the end, a standing, cheering audience called conductor Riccardo Muti back for nine curtain calls. Schubert and Beethoven are the staples of this dressy showplace, where the Philadelphians are giving the closing performances, yesterday and today. But Muti had programmed against the grain.

Any other conductor would test an audience's loyalty with a Philadelphia Orchestra program featuring particularly bizarre modern music. But Simon Rattle knows his people. And though he programmed György Ligeti (as might Christoph Eschenbach), and, at one point, swiveled around and yelled toward the audience (as did Riccardo Muti), there was no loss of good will and, in fact, a standing ovation on Thursday for Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre . A significant ingredient was Barbara Hannigan, the Canadian new-music diva whose charisma, voice and unreserved sense of showmanship were put to great use in a scene from the Ligeti opera Le Grand Macabre , in which she plays a police chief hysterically, nonsensically warning that the end of the world is near.

Richard B. Worley is chairman of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association The Philadelphia Orchestra is entering a new era, one of great promise and opportunity. With the conclusion of our bankruptcy, we eagerly anticipate the launch of Yannick Nézet-Séguin's inaugural season as music director. Those who attended concerts this year saw a glimpse of what is to come. It will be magical. We could not have made it this far without the cooperation and support of our musicians and staff, our partners at the Kimmel Center, and the many who made gifts, which ranged from just a few dollars to the extraordinary gifts of a small number of philanthropic heroes.

CHANNEL 6's Rob Jennings (left) turns a newsy 64 on Wednesday. The stars say the year ahead for the 35-year WPVI-TV veteran will be a good one, filled with action. In other words, Jennings will continue on his A game. Honestly, we expect nothing less. Abington-born stand-up comic and star of the Broadway adaptation of "The Wedding Singer" Stephen Lynch will be 41 Saturday. Former Philadelphia Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti, KYW Newsradio anchor Ed Abrams and former Channel 6 reporter Susanne LaFrankie also turn the page on a new year Saturday.

FORMER Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Riccardo Muti yesterday was awarded the $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize for his "extraordinary" contributions and influence in the world of music. Muti, conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , has also been conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Teatro alla Scala . "Maestro Muti is being recognized for his extraordinary contributions in opera and concert, as well as his enormou s influence in the music world both on and off the stage," the jury said in the citation.

Naming wunderkind conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin as the Philadelphia Orchestra's eighth music director promises to bring sizzle to the home of the "Philadelphia sound" not seen in decades. The arrival of the 35-year-old Canadian - who during his first visit to the city Friday delighted orchestra patrons, tourists, and baseball fans alike - recalls that of another young maestro, Riccardo Muti. The fact that a then-under-40 Muti took over the conductor's podium a full 30 years ago is a good indication of just how welcome Nézet-Séguin's youthful energy will be - especially when coupled with his veteran conductor's resume.

It was both necessary and useless for Riccardo Muti to deflect adoration for him onto the musicians of the New York Philharmonic Friday at the Kimmel Center. He gave individual bows to players, and his stage decorum of modesty was exactly right. But the lusty cheers that started even before he reached downbeat proved what we all knew. It's all about Muti. The roster of the Philadelphia Orchestra has kept its clock going since Muti's huffy departure as music director in 1992 after a dozen years.

rg.) .   - P.D. Imani Winds. These virtuosic and stylish musicians come here so often they really should just settle down and become this city's woodwind quintet in residence. But for now we'll settle for a single concert, Nov. 6, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (215-569-8080 or www.pcmsconcerts.org .) Piffaro and Choral Arts Society . The ensembles will collaborate Nov. 13-15 on Portuguese Advent Vespers - a journey back to 16th-century Lisbon. In this great period of music, even lesser-known composers such as Rebelo, Pinheiro, and Estevao de Brito represent the apex of Renaissance polyphony and its inextricable fusion of spirituality and sensuality.

It's easy to forget how extraordinarily daring the Philadelphia Orchestra once was in entrusting its future to youth. Riccardo Muti and Eugene Ormandy were both under 40 when they were named music director. Stokowski was 30 (depending on when you believe he was born). Age is immaterial to musical worthiness - or at least it should be - as two concerts at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart festival argued conclusively this weekend. This is an important issue to sort out as the orchestra ponders whether to go young, or makes the seemingly more practical choice of a musical grandfather with venerable name.

In orchestra years, a conductor in his 30s is a mere toddler, still framing out basic concepts of cause and effect as he moves through the world. Yannick N?zet-S?guin is no toddler. He's 33, but already he has a sophisticated set of skills. The Montrealer, who made a Philadelphia Orchestra debut of considerable impact Thursday night, has the full concept of ensemble control under his belt. With some gorgeous phrase-shaping and meticulously detailed dynamics, he put a personal imprint on Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. If he had to edge out the soloist a bit to make his point, well, at least the perspective was convincing - that this work can be heard as another Rachmaninoff symphony with regular visitations from the piano.

La Scala. Those words conjure an image of the world's most famous opera house, the glittering jewel of Italian vocal history in otherwise gray, gloomy Milan. The house's orchestra has toured America before, supporting operatic productions and Verdi's Requiem, but its last visit to Philadelphia as a symphonic entity was led by no less than Arturo Toscanini way back in 1921. Expanded into an ensemble for playing orchestral repertoire as well as opera 25 years ago by Claudio Abbado, and more recently by Riccardo Muti, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala will visit tonight with Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly at its helm.