Her Royal Majesty, Queen Sofía of Spain, honoured Mo. Zubin Mehta with the Yehudi Menuhin Prize 2010
During the closing Gala of the academic year of the Escuela Superior de la Musica Reina Sofía on the 17th June 2010 in the Palacio El Pardo Mo. Mehta received the Yehudi Menuhin prize 2010 by H.R.M. Queen Sofía.
Cancellation of the concert with the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra in Frankfurt on the 17th May 2010:
Due to the sudden passing away of the Vice President of Tel Aviv University, the beloved Mr. Yehiel Ben-Zvi, a decision was made by Mr. Buchmann and Maestro Mehta to honor Mr. Ben Zvi with a tribute concert at Tel Aviv University within the frame of the annual Board of Governors.
Mr. Ben Zvi was the leading figure and driving force in planning the concert in Frankfurt, and we hope to resume his vision for this concert next year.
Profile of Zubin Mehta by John Allison for OPERA Magazine, June 2009
Profile: Zubin Mehta By John Allison
Though Zubin Mehta celebrated his 73rd birthday at the end of April on the first night of this year’s Maggio Musicale—when it came to the final ovations, the huge video walls that are a feature of La Fura dels Baus’s new Götterdämmerung sprouted colourful flowers and the message ‘Buon compleanno, Maestro!’—it is easy to underestimate the sheer extent of his operatic career. Perhaps this is because, despite having been at the top of the conducting profession for nearly half a century, Mehta is the antithesis of the attention-seeking maestro. Much of his operatic work since the 1990s has been in only two cities, Florence and Munich, where he has simply got on with the job of maintaining the highest possible musical standards. And having stepped down as Generalmusikdirektor (he retains the title Ehrendirigent) at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2006, after eight years in which he conducted more than 400 performances and 17 new productions, he transferred some of his energies to the new Palau de les Arts in Valencia and conducted its inaugural Fidelio. As President of Valencia’s Festival del Mediterrani (but not music director of the house, a position held by Lorin Maazel), he conducts two full Ring cycles this month. Though Mehta may not look his age—at the curtain calls in Florence he appeared unruffled by his marathon evening—the fact is he has an operatic career stretching back exactly 45 years, to Tosca in Montreal in 1964, so there was much to discuss when we met on the eve of Götterdämmerung. read more...
Article of Zubin Mehta in the YEDIOT AHARONOT on April, 5th 2009
I Care Because I Love This Country By Zubin Mehta
I'm sitting here on stage in Tel-Aviv, at the 100th anniversary celebration for my beloved city Tel-Aviv, in Israel, which I love from the depth of my heart. And yes, I am proud to be invited to take part in this moving celebration for my Tel-Aviv. Now I am sitting on stage five minutes before the IPO concert, knowing that I will not be around for the next jubilee celebration, however with certainty and confidence that the next festivities will be celebrated by the citizens of this city and country in peace, for which we have all been waiting and hoping for so many years. read more...
Deutsche Grammophon and Decca present a new internet site to present two new series - DG concerts and Decca concerts with the possibility to download two recordings of Mo. Mehta.
Interview with Zubin Mehta by Rémy Louis for his concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on the 20th February 2009 at The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris
Né en 1936, Zubin Mehta est un cas particulier. Il fêtera en 2011 le cinquantième anniversaire de ses débuts avec l’Orchestre philharmonique de Vienne – circonstance exceptionnelle, et pourtant triple, car il en ira de même pour le Philharmonique de Berlin, et celui d’Israël !(1). Il revient aujourd’hui sur les liens anciens qui l’unissent aux Wiener Philharmoniker, l’ensemble la plus proche de son cœur avec l’orchestre d’Israël (« ma maison »), dont il est directeur musical à vie.
Vous êtes arrivé à Vienne très tôt, à peine âgé de dix-huit ans ?
Oui. J’ai d’abord étudié en Inde avec mon père Mehli (2), qui m’a inculqué ma formation de base. Je suivais ses répétitions, j’étudiais les partitions avec lui, et il m’a appris à considérer l’orchestre comme un véritable instrument. Aussi, quand j’ai débarqué à Vienne en 1954, je savais parfaitement déchiffrer et lire la musique. J’ai d’abord étudié la théorie et la contrebasse à l’Académie de musique. A partir de 1955, j’ai aussi suivi la classe de direction d’orchestre de Hans Swarowsky (3), et ce jusqu’en 1960, même après avoir obtenu mon diplôme en 1958. read more...
Zubin Mehta receiving a medal from Prince Hitachi, honorary patron of the Japan Art Association, at the awards ceremony of the Praemium Imperiale on 15th October 2008.
copyright by: The Japan Art Association/The Sankei Shimbun
TV Interview with NDTV in October 2008 about the Indian edition of biography and upcoming concerts with the IPO in Mumbai
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Interview with Aimee Ginsburg for Outlook India
Bombay Sonata The maestro waves his wand. His trust will promote western classical music in India. Aimee Ginsburg
"So Mr Zubin Mehta, can you please tell me, do you belong everywhere or do you belong nowhere?"
I'm sitting with the maestro in the gleaming lobby of the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, home for a week to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the greatest in the world, with which Mehta has shared a long and special relationship. A few kilometres away, at Cuffe Parade, is his childhood home, where as a five-year-old boy he used to conduct imaginary orchestras, standing on an old vegetable crate.
The people milling around the hotel lobby seem visibly starstruck, but Mehta, tired after an intense week of rehearsals, performances, black-tie affairs and private get-togethers with his close friends Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman and Placido Domingo, is not making eye contact, conserving his energy for the evening ahead. read more...
The Japan Art Association today announced the names of this year’s Praemium Imperiale Laureates who have been selected in this 20th anniversary year.
Music: Zubin Mehta
Sculpture: Ilya & Emilia Kabakov
Architecture: Peter Zumthor
Painting: Richard Hamilton
Theatre / Film: Sakata Tojuro
Mr Hisashi Hieda, the acting Chairman of the Japan Art Associations says “Twenty years ago, the Japan Art Association established the Praemium Imperiale to honour artists whose work has touched and inspired people across the globe. This anniversary year represents a significant milestone for us. The creative work of the Praemium Imperiale Laureates is timeless and transcends borders and nationalities."
The Awards Ceremony in October in Tokyo will be presided over by the patron of the Japan Art Association, Prince Hitachi (the younger brother of the current Emperor) and to mark the importance of this 20th anniversary, this year’s Laureates will be joined in these celebrations by many of the Awards’ previous recipients.
Zubin Mehta: "I am deeply honoured to be added to this list of outstanding honorées that I admire since a very long time. I look very much forward to come to Tokyo in October to receive the Praemium Imperiale".
Queen Sofía of Spain congratulates Zubin Mehta, who was honored with the Doktor honoris causa of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia on the 24th May 2008.
On April 17, 2008 Zubin Mehta was awarded the Maximiliansorden(Order of Maximilian) by the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Dr. Günther Beckstein, to honor him for his outstanding achievements in the artistic field.
The Bavarian Maximiliansorden for Scholarship and Art is reserved to only 100 honorees, primarily German scholars and artists. The high state honor was initiated by Bavaria’s King Maximilian II in 1853. Following an interruption in 1932, the award was reinstated by then Governor Franz-Josef Strauss in 1981 and takes place every two years.
„Wir sind ja nicht beim Sport“ - Interview with Peter Schneeberger for Profil, 25th February 2008
Dirigent Zubin Mehta über Giuseppe Verdi, digitale Klassik, das indische Kastensystem, arrangierte Ehen und die Premiere von "La Forza del Destino" an der Wiener Staatsoper.
profil: Sie dirigieren diese Woche die Staatsopern-Premiere von Verdis „La forza del destino“. Die Oper soll jedem, der sie aufführt, Pech bringen.
Mehta: Daran sollte niemand mehr glauben. Es stimmt schon, dass bei Aufführungen der „Forza“ immer wieder Unglücksfälle passiert sind. Leonard Warren - ein großer Verdi-Bariton an der New Yorker Met - ist 1960 während einer Vorstellung der „Forza“ gestorben. In Buenos Aires war die Oper bis vor Kurzem verboten, weil dort vor hundert Jahren während einer Aufführung der Luster heruntergefallen ist. Pavarotti nahm nicht einmal den Namen dieser Oper in den Mund. Er war extrem abergläubisch und befürchtete, dass ihm etwas zustoßen könnte. read more...
Zubin Mehta becomes Honorary Member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien
During his last visit with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino at the Musikverein in Vienna, Zubin Mehta was given the great honour of being made Honorary Member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien. This puts him in a long line of Honorary Members such as Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms, Giuseppe Verdi, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan.
On the photograph: Zubin and Nancy Mehta with Dr. Thomas Angyan, Executive and Artistic Director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien and Dr. Dietrich Karner, President of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, 11th November 2007
Interview with Leonetta Bentivoglio / La Repubblica, 18th November 2007:
l'incontro: Zubin Mehta
Ha diretto orchestre in tutto il mondo, ma ha un rapporto privilegiato con Israele per via, dice, dell' antica religione monoteistica di famiglia. Considera Vienna una seconda casa, il suo "salotto". Abita a Los Angeles, ma è con L'India che non ha mai interrotto i rapporti. Il suo sogno, ripete, è invecchiare "immerso nella sacralità della grande natura" del Kashmir. Resterà solo un sogno, aggiunge, "perché a un maestro piace morire sul podio". read more...
Interview with Riccardo Lenzi / L'Espresso, 14th June 2007:
Zubin tra le valchirie
Ondine. Welsunghi. Dei ed eroi. Reinventati dalla Fura dels Baus. Nei due capolavori di Wagner portati al Maggio fiorentino dal grande direttore indiano
colloquio con Zubin Mehta
di Riccardo Lenzi
Forse non esiste un interprete wagneriano più dissimile caratterialmente dal suo autore. Il settantunenne direttore Zubin Mehta, pur essendo un autorevole esecutore del tedesco, come dimostrerà immancabilmente dal 14 giugno affrontando in successione "Das Rheingold" e "Die Walküre" al Maggio musicale, è un personaggio tanto solare quanto pare fosse ombroso il secondo; amante della battuta sanguigna, irrispettosa e fuori dagli schemi e per niente permaloso quanto si dice fosse l'altro; molto più a suo agio con gli adoranti fans della città toscana che con qualche critico "armato di fiero cipiglio", croce e delizia dell'autore del "Parsifal", come si può verificare anche leggendo la sua recente autobiografia, "La partitura della mia vita" (edizioni Excelsior). Il suo far musica è gioviale, comunicativo, addirittura cameratesco, quasi gigioneggiasse sull'aura sacrale che solitamente avvolge il "Maestro". Come il suo affabulare, pur di argomenti tragici, tanto che all'interlocutore par di scorgere tra le frasi proferite con parlantina schioppettante uno sguardo ironico di tacita intesa, quasi volesse suggerire: «suvvia, bischero, davvero vorresti rappresentare tutta la mia vita in quattro parolette?». Un'ottima assimilazione dell'indole tipica fiorentina, per un parsi indiano, che dà luogo a un felice sincretismo: un bronzo del dio Siva che accenna un passo di minuetto con il David di Donatello. read more...
Interview with Dorit Gabai / Ma'ariv 29th July 2005
The Conductor Dares
By Dorit Gabay Maariv
Just as he nursed his dying father three years ago, Zubin Mehta stopped his fast-pace peripatetic schedule to be at his mother's side in her last moments. In the middle of intensive rehearsals with the IPO, he takes time to talk about the painful parting from his parents, and surprisingly diverges from his diplomatic custom, not hesitating to talk about politics. Yes to a Palestinian state; no to the separation fence; and the disengagement is merely "baksheesh". This is the Maestro. read more...
