Masaccio’s “Crucifixion” painting features a bold golden background that almost hurts the eyes and a Mary Magdalene bowed down before the cross. Haydn’s composition “On the Seven Last Words of Our Redeemer on the Cross” is a heart-rending expression of self-sacrifice. Masaccio and Haydn merge into a sole image, as this exceptional dialogue reveals to us. The words of the dying Christ have a universal resonance and meaning, transcending the image itself and achieving pure abstraction.

Riccardo Muti is a former music director of several renowned international orchestras, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Teatro alla Scala. He has been the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 2010. The Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy trains young conductors, répétiteurs and singers from around the world.

Massimo Cacciari is professor emeritus of Philosophy at the San Raffaele University in Milan and is a member of Italy’s Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.