Editing Zubin Mehta (section)

==Conducting career==
===1960s===

During 1960 and 1961, Mehta was asked to substitute for celebrated maestros throughout the world, receiving high critical acclaim for most of those concerts.<ref name=Time/> In 1960, he conducted a series for the [[Vienna Symphony]] and later that summer made his New York conducting debut leading the [[New York Philharmonic]].<ref name=Moritz/>

{{quote box|align=right|width=25em|bgcolor = MistyRose|quote=[Mehta] has the capacity to control every sound made by an orchestra, and he does this with the simplest of gestures, every one of which has an immediate and perceptible effect. He has a talent for conveying a mood of serenity, or of serene grandeur, to both orchestra and audiences that is rare indeed among the younger generation of conductors.|source= —Music critic [[Winthrop Sargeant]],<br>on Mehta's 1967 New York debut at [[Carnegie Hall]]<ref>{{cite magazine|author-link=Winthrop Sargeant |last=Sargeant |first= Winthrop |magazine= The New Yorker |volume=43 |issue=12 |date=13 May 1967 |title=Musical Events |page=164}}</ref>}}

In 1960, with the help of Charles Munch, Mehta became the chief conductor and Music Director of the [[Montreal Symphony Orchestra]], a post he held until 1967. By 1961, he had already conducted the [[Vienna Philharmonic|Vienna]], [[Berlin Philharmonic|Berlin]] and [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra|Israel Philharmonic]] orchestras.<ref name=Mehta /> In 1962, he took the Montreal Symphony on a concert tour to Russia, Paris and Vienna. Mehta was most apprehensive about his concert in Vienna, which he said was considered the "capital of Western music". His single concert there received a 20-minute ovation, 14 curtain calls, and two encores.<ref>Graham, Harriet. ''[[Maclean's]]'', 4 July 1964{{full citation needed|date=November 2020}}</ref>

In 1961, he was named assistant conductor of the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]] (LAP), although the orchestra's music director designate, [[Georg Solti]], was not consulted on the appointment, and resigned in protest.<ref>{{Cite magazine| title=Buffie & the Baton | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872266,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204215340/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872266,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=4 February 2011 | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=14 April 1961 | access-date=8 November 2007}}</ref> The orchestra had been without a permanent conductor for four years when Mehta started directing it.<ref name=Moritz/>

Mehta was named Music Director of the orchestra and held the post from 1962 to 1978. When he began his first season with the orchestra in 1962, he was 26, the youngest person ever to hold that title.<ref name=Moritz/> As he had also conducted the Montreal Symphony during those early years, he became the first person to direct two North American symphony orchestras at the same time.<ref name=Moritz />

As the LAP's first conductor in four years, Mehta worked to polish its overall sound to something closer to the [[Vienna Philharmonic]]'s. He succeeded in making its sound warmer and richer by fostering competition among the musicians, shifting assignments, giving promotions and changing seating arrangements.<ref name=Time/> He also inspired the musicians; 21-year-old cellist [[Jacqueline du Pré]] said, "He provides a magic carpet for you to float on." Cellist Kurt Reher recalls Mehta's first rehearsal with the orchestra: "within two beats we were entranced. It seemed this young man had the ability, the musical knowledge of a man of 50 or 55."<ref name=Time/>

In 1965, after Mehta's debut with the [[Metropolitan Opera]]'s performance of ''[[Aida]]'', music critic [[Alan Rich]] wrote, "Mehta brought to the conducting of the score a kind of bedazzlement that has no peer in recent times ... It was a lunging, teeming, breathless performance that still had plenty of breath."<ref name=Moritz/> He subsequently conducted the Met in performances of ''Carmen'', ''Tosca'', and ''Turandot''.

For Montreal's [[Expo 67]], he conducted both the Montreal and the Los Angeles orchestras together for a performance of [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]]'s ''[[Symphonie fantastique]]''.<ref name=Moritz /> Also that year, Mehta conducted the world premier of [[Marvin David Levy]]'s ''[[Mourning Becomes Electra]]''.<ref name=Moritz />

By May 1967, his schedule was becoming overcrowded and he resigned his Montreal post. That fall he took the 107-member Los Angeles Philharmonic on an eight-week tour, including engagements in Vienna, Paris, Athens, and Bombay.<ref name=Moritz/> By 1968, his popularity kept him busier than the year before, including 22 weeks of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, three operas at the Met, television appearances in the U.S. and Italy, five recording sessions, and guest appearances at five festivals and with five orchestras.<ref name=Moritz/> ''Time'' magazine put him on its cover in January 1968.<ref name=Time>[https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680119,00.html Zubin Mehta cover story], ''Time'', 19 January 1968</ref> In 1969 his schedule remained equally active.<ref name=Moritz/>

In 1970, Mehta performed with Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention on Zappa's "200 Motels" and Edgar Varese's Intergrales, at [[UCLA]]'s Pauley Pavilion basketball stadium with an audience of 12,000. There is no authorized recording, though some bootlegs exist.

===1970s–1980s===
In 1978, Mehta became the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the [[New York Philharmonic]] and remained there until his resignation in 1991.

[[File:Isaac Stern - Mehta - 1980.JPG|thumb|left|Mehta with [[Isaac Stern]] at Lincoln Center, 1980]]

He became music director of the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]] (IPO) in 1977. He began the first of many guest appearances with the IPO in 1961. In 1966, he toured with the orchestra, and during the [[1967 Arab–Israeli war]], he rushed back to Israel to conduct several special concerts to demonstrate solidarity with its people.<ref name=Chicago>"Mehta mated to Israel Philharmonic", ''Chicago Tribune'', 12 March 2014, pp. 3–4.</ref> He was appointed IPO's Music Advisor in 1969, Music Director in 1977, and was made its Music Director for Life in 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/|title=Newsday &#124; Long Island's & NYC's News Source|website=Newsday}}</ref>

During his five-decade connection with the IPO, he has conducted it in thousands of concerts in Israel and abroad.<ref name=Opera /> He conducted concerts with the IPO in South Lebanon in 1982, after which Arabs rushed onstage to hug the musicians.<ref name=LATimes /> He conducted it during the [[Gulf War]] in 1991, when the audience brought gas masks; in 2007, it played for an entirely Arab audience in Nazareth.<ref name=LATimes /> He claims to have a deep kinship with Israel's musicians and the spirit and tradition of the Jewish people.<ref name=Chicago /> He adds that conducting the IPO is "something I do for my heart".<ref name=Chicago /> Recalling those earlier years, he says: "How I would love to see that sight again today, of Arabs and Jews hugging each other. I'm a positive thinker. I know this day will come."<ref name=LATimes />

In 1978, Mehta left the Los Angeles Philharmonic to become music director for the [[New York Philharmonic]] (NYP).<ref name=LATimes>"Classical Music", ''Los Angeles Times'', 28 January 2007</ref> Among the reasons he wanted to direct the NYP was that it allowed him to experiment with new ideas, such as taking the orchestra to Harlem. There, they played at the Abyssinian Baptist Church each year. Accompanying the orchestra with Mehta for various concerts were [[Isaac Stern]], [[Itzhak Perlman]], and [[Kathleen Battle]].<ref name=LATimes /> He stayed with the NYP until 1991.<ref name=LATimes />

{{external media|float=right|width=200px|audio1=You may hear Zubin Mehta with the [[Israel Philharmonic]] in [[Antonin Dvorak]]'s Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70 in 1968 [https://archive.org/details/lp_israel-philharmonic-tour-1968-symphony-n_antonin-dvoak-israel-philharmonic-orchestr/disc1/01.01.+Symphony+No.+7+In+D+Minor%2C+Op.+70%3A+Allegro+Maestoso.mp3 <br /> '''Here on Archive.org''']}}

From 1985 to 2017, Mehta was chief conductor of the Teatro del [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]] in Florence.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://firenze.repubblica.it/tempo-libero/articoli/musica/2015/04/13/news/mehta_il_mio_contratto_col_maggio_fino_al_2017_poi_saro_un_uccello_libero_-111877036/|title=La Repubblica, 13 April 2015|access-date=7 May 2016}}</ref> From 1998 until 2006, he was music director of the [[Bavarian State Opera]] in Munich. The [[Munich Philharmonic]] named him its Honorary Conductor. Since 2005, Mehta has been the main conductor of the [[Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía|Palau de les Arts]], the new opera house of the [[Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències]] in [[Valencia]], Spain.

While he was the conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Mehta commissioned [[Ravi Shankar]]'s Concerto No. 2 for sitar and orchestra. Following New York performances, the concerto was later recorded with the [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]].<ref name=Score>Mehta, Zubin. ''Zubin Mehta: The Score of My Life'', Hal Leonard Corp. (2006), translated from Droemer Verlag (Germany) (2006)</ref>{{rp|vii}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/apr/Zubin-Mehta-2.jpg|title=Photo of album cover for "Ravi Sharkar and Zubin Mehta, Sitar Concerto No. 2"|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=25 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925230158/http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/apr/Zubin-Mehta-2.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnFYxh2wQys&list=PLbBfVVaL_GQOrLvtreprQ_27ohbjifr4n |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211113/dnFYxh2wQys |archive-date=13 November 2021 |url-status=live|title=Ravi Shankar, Mian Ki Malhar, Raga-Mala, Sitar Concerto 2, Roerich|date=30 January 2011 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===1990s===
In 1998, he went to Munich where he began directing the [[Bavarian State Opera]], because, he said, it provided "another panorama for me, to be involved in the running of an opera house".<ref name=LATimes/>

In 1990, he conducted the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in the first ever [[Three Tenors]] concert in Rome, joining the tenors again in 1994 at the [[Dodger Stadium]], Los Angeles. In between those appearances, he conducted the historic 1992 production of ''[[Tosca]]'' in which each act took place in the actual setting and at the actual time specified in the score. This production starred [[Catherine Malfitano]] in the title role, [[Plácido Domingo]] as Cavaradossi and [[Ruggero Raimondi]] as Baron Scarpia. Act I was telecast live from Rome's Basilica of [[Sant'Andrea della Valle]] on Saturday, 11 July, at noon (Central European Daylight Saving Time); act II was telecast later that evening from the [[Palazzo Farnese]] at 9:40&nbsp;p.m.; act III was telecast live on Sunday, 12 July, at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;am from the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]], also known as Hadrian's Tomb.

[[File:Zubin Mehta at NCPA.jpg|thumb|left|Mehta conducting the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]] in Mumbai, October 2008]]
In June 1994, Mehta performed the [[Requiem (Mozart)|Mozart Requiem]] with the members of the [[Sarajevo]] Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at the ruins of Sarajevo's National Library, in a fundraising concert for the victims of armed conflict and remembrance of the thousands of people killed in the [[Yugoslav Wars]]. On 29 August 1999, he conducted Mahler's [[Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 2]] (''Resurrection''), at the vicinity of [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] in [[Weimar]], with the [[Bavarian State Orchestra]] and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra sitting alongside each other.

He toured India (Mumbai) in 1984 with the New York Philharmonic, and again in November–December 1994 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, along with soloists [[Itzhak Perlman]] and [[Gil Shaham]]. In 1997 and 1998, Mehta worked in collaboration with Chinese film director [[Zhang Yimou]] on a production of [[Giacomo Puccini]]'s opera ''[[Turandot]]'', which they took to Florence and to Beijing, where it was staged in its actual surroundings in the Forbidden City, with over 300 extras and 300 soldiers, for nine historic performances. The making of this production was chronicled in the documentary ''The Turandot Project'', which Mehta narrated.

Mehta was a guest conductor for the [[American Russian Young Artists Orchestra]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/ccsi/usnisorg/educultr/aryo.htm|title=The American Russian Youth Orchestra (ARYO)|website=www.friends-partners.org|access-date=29 December 2020|archive-date=10 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210055737/http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/ccsi/usnisorg/educultr/aryo.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=53|title=AMERICAN RUSSIAN YOUNG ARTISTS ORCHESTRA OPENS AMERICAN TOUR WITH SPECIAL CONCERT AT BARD COLLEGE ON MONDAY, JUNE 14, AT 7 P.M. &#124; Bard College Public Relations|first=Bard Public|last=Relations|website=www.bard.edu}}</ref>

===2000s===
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 8929 Shalit concert.JPG|thumb| Mehta in 2010]]
On 26 December 2005, the first anniversary of the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|Indian Ocean tsunami]], Mehta and the Bavarian State Orchestra performed for the first time in [[Chennai]] (formerly Madras) at the [[Madras Music Academy]]. This [[tsunami]] memorial concert was organized by the German consulate in Chennai along with the Max-Mueller Bhavan/[[Goethe-Institut]]. 2006 was his last year with the Bavarian State Orchestra.

===2010s===
In 2011, Mehta's performance with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at [[The Proms]] in London was picketed and interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters,<ref>da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/arts/music/zubin-mehta-of-the-israel-philharmonic-on-that-nations-affairs.html?ref=arts&_r=0 "Political Views Test the Harmony"], ''The New York Times'', 19 March 2014.</ref> which caused the BBC to halt the live radio relay of the concert, the first such incident in Proms history. In September 2013, Mehta appeared with the [[Bavarian State Orchestra]] at a special concert, ''Ehsaas e Kashmir'', organized by the German Embassy in India, at Mughal Gardens, [[Srinagar]]. Mehta and the orchestra renounced their usual fees for this concert.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zubin Mehta's Kashmir Concert begins in Srinagar amid Protests|url=http://news.biharprabha.com/2013/09/zubin-mehtas-kashmir-concert-begins-in-srinagar-amid-protests/|access-date=7 September 2013}}</ref>

In October 2015, he returned to [[Chennai]] to perform with the [[Australian World Orchestra|Australian World Orchestra (AWO)]] at the [[Madras Music Academy]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zubin Mehta Brings Shower of Melodies to Chennai|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2015/oct/29/zubin-mehta-brings-shower-of-melodies-to-chennai-835906.html|first=Roshne |last=Balasubramanian|access-date=22 June 2020|website=The New Indian Express|date=29 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Alexander|first=Deepa|date=29 October 2015|title=A perfect score by Zubin Mehta|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/zubin-mehta-in-chennai/article7815034.ece|access-date=22 June 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

In 2016, the Harbin Symphony Orchestra and the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]] performed two concerts conducted by Mehta in the frame of 33rd Harbin Summer Music Festival at [[Harbin Concert Hall]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/arts/music/in-china-rejuvenating-a-classical-music-heritage-linked-to-a-jewish-community.html|title=In China, Rejuvenating a Classical Music Heritage Linked to a Jewish Community|last=Qin|first=Amy|date=9 August 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=8 May 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In December 2016, the Israel Philharmonic announced that Mehta would conclude his tenure as music director in October 2019.<ref>{{cite news | title=Zubin Mehta announces retirement from Israel Philharmonic | url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Zubin-Mehta-announces-retirement-from-Israel-Philharmonic-476574 | work=The Jerusalem Post| date=26 December 2016 | access-date=6 November 2017}}</ref> He now has the title of music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic.

In August 2022, Mehta conducted the [[Australian World Orchestra|Australian World Orchestra (AWO)]] in [[Sydney]] and [[Melbourne]] at Concert Hall, [[Sydney Opera House]] and Hamer Hall, [[Arts Centre Melbourne]]. He also conducted the AWO at the [[Edinburgh International Festival]] and the [[BBC Proms|BBC Proms 2022]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Media – Australian World Orchestra |date=19 July 2020 |url=https://www.australianworldorchestra.com.au/about-us/media/|website=Australianworldorchestra.com.au |access-date=28 April 2022 |language=en-AU}}</ref>