Riccardo Muti opened the inaugural evening of the first Rome Film Festival in 2006 with a tribute to the composer Nino Rota. To celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director returned to speak about the relationship between film and music, and the films that have influenced his life and his career.

At his festival event on Oct. 23, Muti again turned to Rota, whom he considered a mentor and dear friend: “I owe him my career.” Muti also lauded composer Ennio Morricone, especially his soundtrack for “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion,” and films by Carl Theodor Dreyer (“Dies Irae”) and Roberto Rossellini (“Rome: Open City”). “In the film by Dreyer, each image like is a picture by Caravaggio,” Muti said in an article published in Il Tempo. “When I see the films of Rossellini, I am proud to be Italian. ”

To read the full article (in Italian), click here.