Poor guy. First it was the flu. Now, Riccardo Muti is out with a more serious ailment.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Muti has been diagnosed with an inguinal hernia that will force him to bow out of the orchestra's entire tour of the Far East, Jan. 25-Feb. 7.

After the Italian maestro, 71, flew home to Milan, Italy, last week to be treated for a case of the flu that had sidelined him from his two scheduled weeks of CSO subscription concerts, doctors discovered a more serious medical condition, an inguinal hernia, that will require surgical treatment as soon as possible, the orchestra announced late Thursday.

Orchestra members were informed of Muti's cancellation after Thursday night's subscription concert at Symphony Center, according to CSO Association president Deborah Rutter. "Several players have had this condition themselves," she said.

The eminent American conductor Lorin Maazel agreed to take over the entire CSO tour except for the Jan. 25-26 concerts in Taipei, Taiwan.

[Source: Chicago Tribune]