Where Have You Been All My Life?

Here’s a novelty few can have seen coming: The Triumph of the Octagon, by Philip Glass, dashed off for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti, who this season assumes the title of music director emeritus for life. Yet here it is, heading up an Italian-themed program to be heard on the musicians’ home stage, in the Windy City, from September 28 through 30 and at Carnegie Hall on October 5.

The octagon of Glass’s title refers to the World Heritage site Castel del Monte, a hilltop citadel on the heel of the boot of Italy, built by the 13th-century Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. With its esoteric, numerological aura, the place has always drawn Muti like a magnet. He grew up nearby and now owns adjoining properties, enjoying privileged access. And Federico Secondo, a scion of the Hohenstaufen dynasty known in his time as stupor mundi, or “wonder of the world,” stands tall among Muti’s supreme culture heroes. A framed photograph of Castel del Monte hangs in his dressing room.