Mehta, Zubin

Mehta, Zubin, notable Indian conductor; b. Bombay, April 29, 1936. His first mentor was his father, the Indian violinist and conductor Mehli Mehta (b. Bombay, Sept. 25, 1908). He received training in violin and piano in childhood, and at 16 had his first taste of conducting when he led a rehearsal of the Bombay Sym. Orch. He studied medicine in Bombay but the lure of music compelled him to abandon his medical training to pursue musical studies at the Vienna Academy of Music. While playing double bass in its orch., he found a conducting mentor in Swarowsky During the summers of 1956 and 1957, he also studied conducting with Carlo Zecchi and Alceo Galliera at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. In 1957 he made his professional conducting debut with the Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester in Vienna. He won the 1^stRoyal Liverpool Phil, conducting competition in 1958, and then served for a season as its asst. conductor. In the summer of 1959 he attended the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, where he took 2^nd prize in conducting. He made his North American debut conducting the Philadelphia Orch. in 1960. Later that year his successful appearances with the Montreal Sym. Orch. led to his appointment as its music director in 1961. That same year he also became assoc. conductor of the Los Angeles Phil. His London debut came later in 1961 when he appeared as a guest conductor with the Royal Phil. In 1962 he became music director of the Los Angeles Phil, while retaining his Montreal post until 1967. He made his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival in 1962. He first conducted opera in Montreal in 1964 when he led a performance of Tosca. On Dec. 29, 1965, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. conducting Aida. In 1966 he conducted for the first time at Milan’s La Scala. He was named music advisor of the Israel Phil, in 1968. His success with that ensemble led to his appointment as its music director in 1977 and as its music director for life in 1981. He led it on major tours of Europe, North and South America, and the Far East. In 1977 he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden conducting Otello. During his tenure in Los Angeles, Mehta was glamorized in the colorful Hollywood manner. This glamoriza-tion process was abetted by his genuine personableness and his reputation as a bon vivant. As a conductor, he secured the international profile of the Los Angeles Phil, through recordings and major tours. He became particularly known for his effulgent and expansive readings of the Romantic repertoire, which he invariably conducted from memory. His success in Los Angeles led the management of the N.Y. Phil, to appoint him as music director in 1978 with the hope that he could transform that ensemble in the wake of the austere Boulez tenure. Although Mehta served as music director of the N.Y. Phil, until 1991, he was unable to duplicate the success he attained in Los Angeles. Critics acknowledged his abilities but found his interpretations often indulgent and wayward. On July 7, 1990, Mehta served as conductor of the 3 tenors extravaganza in Rome with Carreras, Domingo, and Pavarotti in a concert telecast live to the world. He returned to the N.Y. Phil, for its 150^th anniversary concert on Dec. 7, 1992, when he conducted a performance of Till Eulen-spiegels lustige Streich. On July 16, 1994, he was conductor of the Carreras, Domingo, and Pavarotti reunion when he led the Los Angeles Phil, in a concert again telecast live around the globe. In 1995 he was appointed Generalmusikdirektor of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, which post he assumed in 1998. In 1997 he received the Great Silver Medal of Austria.

Bibliography

M. Bookspan and R. Yockey, Z.:The Z. M. Story (N.Y., 1978).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire