Riccardo Muti undergoes hip surgery

Celebrated Italian conductor Riccardo Muti has cancelled his upcoming appearances at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra after undergoing hip surgery.
The conductor, 74, recently suffered a minor fall at his home in Italy after wrapping up a tour of Asia with the CSO, for which he serves as musical director, last month (Jan16), and he has since been treated by surgeons in the city of Ravenna.
His recovery period from the operation has forced Muti to withdraw from the CSO’s planned concerts in Chicago, Illinois for the rest of February (16), while a special concert set for 19 February (16) at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral will be rescheduled.
Muti is expected to be well enough to return for his next CSO residency in April (16).
It’s not the first time the music maestro has had to bow out of CSO performances due to ill health – he suffered a scare in 2011 when he fainted and tumbled from his podium during a rehearsal and was subsequently diagnosed with a heart condition, requiring him to be fitted with a pacemaker. He also previously pulled out of performances in 2013 due to a bout of influenza and a hernia surgery.