Muti calls for Florence’s Maggio theatre to be named after Vittorio Gui

Conductor Riccardo Muti has urged Florence to rename the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino after Vittorio Gui, the founder of the Maggio festival, a proposal the city’s mayor says will be formalised in the coming days.

At the end of a concert at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Riccardo Muti stressed the central role played by Vittorio Gui in the creation of Florence’s modern musical institutions. Muti recalled that Gui founded the Stabile Orchestrale Fiorentina in 1928, which later became today’s Maggio orchestra, and went on to establish the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival, now one of the world’s leading classical music events.

Muti argued that without Gui’s work, the orchestra, the choir and the festival itself would not exist in their current form. He questioned why the city’s main music venue is not named after Gui, despite his legacy, and said he had already raised the issue with both Florence’s mayor and the national undersecretary for culture.

The remarks were met with prolonged applause from the audience.

City Hall moves to formalise decision

Florence mayor Sara Funaro confirmed shortly afterwards that she supports the proposal and intends to move ahead with it. She said the idea had already been discussed with Muti earlier in the week and that the city executive will adopt a formal resolution in the coming days.

According to Funaro, Gui remains a key figure in Italy’s 20th-century musical life, not only as a conductor and composer but also as a cultural organiser who shaped Florence’s role on the international music scene. She underlined that the orchestra and festival he created continue to define the city’s musical identity.

The mayor also thanked Muti for his recent concert with the Maggio orchestra and choir, held to mark the 50th anniversary of Gui’s death.

If approved, the decision would symbolically link Florence’s main contemporary music venue to the figure who laid the foundations of the Maggio Musicale nearly a century ago.

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