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Indian conductor Zubin Mehta was born on April 29, 1936 in a musical family in Mumbai. Zubin Mehta is the lifelong music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the general conductor of the Valencia Opera in Spain. Mehta is also chief conductor of the Florence May Music Festival.
Background
Mehta was born into a Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) family in Mumbai, India. His father is a violinist and the founding conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. He later went to Los Angeles to conduct the American Youth Symphony Orchestra. Mehta is a graduate of St. Mary's School, Mumbai and also attended St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. While in school, Mehta began practicing piano with his first piano teacher, Joseph de Lima. Initially, Mehta intended to study medicine, but eventually became a music student at the age of 18, studying in Vienna with the Austrian conductor Hans Swarovski. Mehta's alumni at the Vienna school also include conductor Claudio Abbado and conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim.
In 1958, Mehta married his first wife, Canadian soprano Carmen Laski, and they had a son, Mwen, and a daughter, Lina. In 1964, the marriage came to an end. Two years after their divorce, Carmen married Mehta's brother, Zareen Mehta, former executive chairman of the New York Philharmonic. In July 1969, Mehta married former American film and television actress Nancy Kwalk. Mehta, a permanent resident of the United States, has retained his Indian citizenship.
Conducting career
In 1958, Mehta conducted his first concert in Vienna. Also that year, he won the International Conducting Competition in Liverpool and was appointed assistant conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1960, Mehta quickly became chief conductor of the Trier Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 1967. In 1961, he was appointed assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. However, this appointment was made without prior consultation with the orchestra's designated music director, Zorg Solti, which resulted in Solti's resignation in protest. Soon after, Mehta himself was appointed music director of the orchestra, a position he held from 1962 to 1978.
On December 16, 1970, on the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth, Mehta conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra to perform the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, ending the legendary The 12-hour "Beethoven Marathon". Mehta's father, Mehli Mehta, also participated in conducting the concert.
In 1978, Mehta became the music director and chief conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra until his resignation in 1991, becoming the longest-serving person to hold this position.
In 1969, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra appointed Mehta as its music consultant; in 1977, he was appointed music director. In 1981, Mehta was appointed lifelong music director.
Metta has been chief conductor of the Florence May Music Festival since 1985 (in 2015, Mehta announced his intention to step down from this position in 2017). In addition, from 1998 to 2006, Mehta was music director of the Bayerische Oper in Munich. The Munich Philharmonic appointed him honorary conductor. Since 2005, Mehta has been principal conductor (together with Lorin Maazel) of the Teatro Reina Sofía in Valencia, Spain.
Starting in 1990, Mehta *** conducted five Vienna New Year Concerts in 1990, 1995, 1998, 2007 and 2015. He also conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded Shankar's "Sitar Concerto No. 2" with Indian musician, Indian classical music composer and sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar
In 1990, Mehta conducted the Florence May Festival Orchestra and the Rome Opera Orchestra at the first concert of the world's three tenors in Rome; in 1994, he again participated in the three tenors' concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Concert. In between these performances, in 1992, Mehta conducted a historically influential performance of the opera Tosca.
In this performance, not only does each act take place in the actual place described in the original work, but the performance time also coincides with the time described in the score. The title character Tosca is played by American soprano Caitlin Malfitano, Spanish tenor Jose Placido Domingo plays painter Cavaradossi, and Italian bass baritone Ruggero Raimondi plays police chief Scabbia. The first act will be broadcast live on Saturday, July 11 at noon (Central European Summer Time) from the Roman Cathedral of San Andreas della Valle; the second act will be broadcast live at 9:40 pm on the same day from the Palazzo Farnese in Rome It will be broadcast live; the third act will be broadcast live on Sunday, July 12 at 7pm from Castel Sant'Angelo, also known as Hadrian's Mausoleum, in Rome.
On the ruins of the National Library in Sarajevo in June 1994, Meta and members of the Sarajevo Symphony Orchestra and the choir, in memory of the victims of the armed conflict and the thousands who died in the war in Yugoslavia At the fund-raising concert held, "Mozart's Requiem" was performed. On August 29, 1999, near the Buchenwald concentration camp in Weimar, Germany, Mehta conducted Mahler's Second "Resurrection" Symphony together with the Bavarian State Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1984, he toured his home country of India and his hometown of Mumbai with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra; from November to December 1994, he toured his home country again with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, accompanied by the famous Israeli violinist Yitzhak Perlman and emerging American violinist Gil Shaham. In 1997, Mehta collaborated with Chinese film director Zhang Yimou on the production of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot. This opera was performed in Florence, Italy and Beijing, China. In Beijing, "Turandot" was staged in the actual environment of the "Forbidden City" (Forbidden City), using more than 300 actors and 300 soldiers, and a total of nine historic performances were performed. The production process of this work has been recorded in the documentary "Turandot Project" narrated by Mehta.
The 21st Century
On December 26, 2005, the first anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, Mehta and the Bavarian Staatskapelle performed in a concert in Chennai (formerly Madeira gave its first performance at the Madras Music Academy. This tsunami memorial concert was organized by the German Consulate in Madras and the Max Mueller Goethe-Institut ***. In 2006, Mehta spent his last year with the Bavarian Staatskapelle.
In 2011, Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance at the London Proms was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.
On September 7, 2013, Mehta and the Bavarian State Orchestra appeared in a special concert - organized by the German Embassy in India and held at the Mughal Gardens, the Presidential Palace of India, Srinagar "Ehsaas e Kashmir" organized by. Both Mehta and the band announced that they would waive their regular fees for the concert.
April 29, 2016. On Mehta's 80th birthday, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and performed a concert of Beethoven's works at the Musikverein in Vienna, during which Daniel Barenboim played Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto.
Conducting Style
Early in his career, Mehta was distinguished by his conductive work on Anton Bruckner, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Freud. Lanz Schmidt's passionate interpretation of large-scale symphonic music works has been praised by the world. His conducting style is known for being gorgeous, energetic and powerful.
In 2010, Meta conducted a special concert for King Carlos and the Queen of Spain, performing the variations of "Happy Birthday", including features of works by several composers such as Wagner, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. , and their compositional styles at different times in Vienna, New Orleans, and Hungary.
Medal of Honor
In 1965, Zubin Mehta received an honorary doctorate from Sir William University in Canada. The school later merged with Loyola University to form Concordia University. Mehta's name also appears on American composer Frank Zappa's 1972 song "Billy Mountain" from Just Another Band and the Mothers of Invention album.
In 1991, at the "Israel Prize" ceremony, Mehta was awarded the "Special Award" for his unique dedication to Israel and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1999, Mehta received the United Nations "Lifetime Achievement Award for Peace and Tolerance".
In 1966, the Indian government awarded Mehta the "Indian Citizen Honor Award" and in 2001 awarded him India's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.
In September 2006, the Kennedy Center announced Mehta as one of the recipients of the annual "Kennedy Center Honors", which was awarded on December 2, 2006.
On February 3, 2007, Mehta won the second annual "Bridge Builder Award" at the Catholic University of America "Loyola Marymount University".
Meta is also an honorary citizen of Florence and Tel Aviv.
In 1997, Mehta became an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera. In 2001, he was awarded the title of "Honorary Conductor" of the Vienna Philharmonic; in 2004, the Munich Philharmonic awarded him the same title; the same title also came from the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra and the Florence May Music Festival in 2006. At the end of his tenure at the Bavarian State Opera, Mehta was appointed Honorary Conductor of the Bavarian State Orchestra and Honorary Member of the Bavarian State Opera. In November 2007, Mehta was appointed an honorary member of the Vienna Music Society.
In October 2008, Mehta won Japan's "Takamatsu Palace Memorial World Cultural Award" (a world cultural award established in memory of His Royal Highness Prince Nobuhito Takamatsu Palace).
On March 1, 2011, Mehta was accepted into the 2,434th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On October 2, 2011, Mehta received the German Classical Music Echo Award in Berlin for his outstanding work throughout his life.
On September 6, 2013, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee awarded Mehta the "Tagore Award 2013" for his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony.