Music in Bologna, musicians in Bologna.
Riccardo Muti all’Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, in A.M.I.S., Bollettino dell’Associazione, XVI, 23, pp. 24-37.

On 4 October 2000, Fulvio Angius,  Chairman of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna, conferred Riccardo Muti the honourary membership to the institution, after the deliberation of the meeting of the Philarmonic Academicians of 30 April 2000, during which Maestro Muti had been unanimously proclaimed member, thanks to “the highest peaks reached in the art of musical interpretation”.
The ceremony took place at 7 p.m. in the Sala Mozart of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna, in the presence of the maximum authorities of Bologna and of many exponents of the Bolognese business and cultural world. Maestro Muti’s wife and children attended the ceremony as well.
The conferring of the prestigious title to Maestro Muti was on the occasions of the concert which the Maestro gave on 8 October 2000 at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna with the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala: said concert was asked for by Mayor Giorgio Guazzaloca on the occasion of the events for Bologna 2000, a European capital of culture.
After a musical introduction, during which the Filarmonici of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, conducted by Emanuele Benfenati, performed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Divertimento in Re Major K 136 for strings, Carlo Maria Badini, the former Head who had wanted Riccardo Muti as a conductor of the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, made a speech in front of the very wide public in the room, presenting the figure of Riccardo Muti as a conductor and a man of culture. Then, Maestro Muti went on the stage and made an impromptu speech interrupted by frequent cheers, a thankful speech which was also a lively acknowledgement of his link to Bologna and of his artistic commitment, a sort of “Praise of Italianity”.
At the end of the ceremony, the people attending the ceremony were invited to a buffet given by Mrs. Maria Teresa Liguori Bubani, a friend and an active supporter of the Accademia, in the magnificent Carrati Museum Rooms of the Accademia Filarmonica. These premises, recently restored and  on this occasion decorated with elegance and good taste, offered a wonderful view, and deserved the admiration of everybody. It was a memorable evening, to be ranged among one of the most meaningful events of the recent history of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna.
As, on the occasion of the award of the Academic diploma to Riccardo Muti, the Sala Mozart of the Accademia Filarmonica  could accommodate but a necessarily limited number of guests, the publication of this booklet aims at making a wider public share this important event, and in consideration of their importance, it  encloses the speeches made at the Accademia by Carlo Maria Badini and by Riccardo Muti.

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