Globally celebrated conductor Zubin Mehta was greeted with a standing ovation as he walked to the rostrum at Mumbai’s packed Jamshed Bhabha Theatre lately. His actions appear to have slowed down significantly with age however the acquainted enthusiasm and aura have been nonetheless intact. After greeting the viewers, the 88-year-old maestro confronted musicians of the Symphony Orchestra of India, and raised his baton to the overture of ‘Die Fiedermaus’, composed by Austrian legend Johann Strauss II.
It was the primary of 4 reveals carried out by Mumbai-born Zubin Mehta for the Nationwide Centre of Performing Arts (NCPA) Autumn Season – 2024. The primary two nights showcased well-known Viennese tunes composed by Strauss, with an excellent mixture of waltzes, polkas and overtures. The final two reveals (August 24 and 25), Zubin carried out music by German composer Richard Strauss, together with the tone poems ‘Don Juan’ and ‘Ein Heldenleben’, and ‘4 Final Songs’ that includes American soprano Angel Blue, who got here in as a last-minute substitute for Bulgaria-born Krassimira Stoyanova.
Zubin Mehta was 22, when he carried out an all-Schoenberg live performance
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy: NCPA
On the opening Johann Strauss II evening, the SOI didn’t current the grossly-overplayed ‘Blue Danube Waltz’. The choices included the well-known ‘Wiener Blut’ waltz and ‘Kaiser Waltzer’, moreover ‘Voices Of Spring’, that includes Israeli soprano Chen Reiss. Within the remaining encore, they performed the colourful ‘Unter Donner Und Blitz (Thunder And Lightning)’. As soon as once more, the Zubin Mehta magic mesmerised Mumbai.
The reveals have been offered by NCPA and the Mehli Mehta Music Basis. In a media interplay earlier than the reveals, Zubin had diplomatically handled questions on whether or not these could be his final reveals in Mumbai. He stated, “For me, conducting is like volcanic lava. It’s all the time able to burst out. I’m right here after a two-week trip, and now I’m going as much as Christmas, continuous. So I don’t know my future plans.”
The 4 Mumbai reveals have been offered by NCPA and the Mehli Mehta Music Basis.
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy: NCPA
Zubin had carried out the SOI a yr in the past too, for the primary time. He stated, “Earlier than I did these reveals, I wasn’t positive whether or not I’d come once more. However I used to be impressed by them from the rehearsal stage itself. We performed Mahler’s ‘Symphony No 1’, which requires lot of proficiency. They did an exquisite job. So when Khushroo Suntook of NCPA requested me to return, I readily agreed.”
If Mumbai’s audiences have all the time greeted Zubin warmly with sold-out reveals and a rousing reception, the maestro has fond recollections of town. Born on April 29, 1936, the son of Tehmina and conductor-violinist Mehli Mehta grew up in an setting surrounded by western classical music. In his biography Zubin Mehta: A Musical Journey, written by Bakhtiar Okay. Dadabhoy, his mom is quoted to have stated, “When he was sick or in ache, if we performed a document, he would simply put his head on my shoulder and be quiet. As quickly because the document completed, he would keep in mind the music and begin crying.”
Zubin Mehta says he doesn’t learn about his future plans
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy: NCPA
Zubin has vivid recollections of his childhood. “I used to be in Campion’s Faculty adopted by St Mary’s and later St Xavier’s Faculty. However I’d watch my father, who carried out the Bombay Symphony Orchestra, and learnt so much there, even conducting some rehearsals,” he recalled. At 18, he determined to focus full-time on music, and moved to Vienna to review beneath the nice conductor Hans Swarowsky on the Vienna Academy of Music, whereas additionally studying to play the double bass. He stated, “I used to be completely enamoured by the Vienna Faculty composers reminiscent of Mozart, Haydn, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg.”
Zubin made his conducting debut with the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Vienna’s Musikverein. When he was 22, he carried out an all-Schoenberg live performance. He stated, “It’s his a hundred and fiftieth delivery anniversary this month and Vienna will buzz together with his music at many concert events. My Vienna expertise additionally uncovered me to composers from different international locations. They included Johannes Brahms or Richard Wagner of Germany, or Igor Stravinsky of Russia.”
Zubin has carried out in Mumbai with the Munich, Israel and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, amongst others.
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy: NCPA
Although based mostly within the U.S., Zubin has retained his Indian passport. He has carried out in Mumbai with the Munich, Israel and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, amongst others. He remembered his first go to as a full-time conductor in 1967 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. “The present was on Diwali, and we took two hours to get to Shanmukhananda Corridor. I had informed the musicians they’d hear firecrackers whereas enjoying. A few of them thought they have been being bombarded however they cherished it.”
Apart from his common classical reveals in Mumbai, Delhi and different Indian metros, one among his most talked about concert events was with the Bavarian State Orchestra in Srinagar in 2013. Regardless of separatist threats to disrupt the occasion, Zubin went forward together with his programme of Ludwig Van Beethoven, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Joseph Haydn, moreover a collaboration with santoor participant Abhay Sopori and his folks group. “The Kashmiri musicians have been warned to not play however all of them turned up. It might not be my favorite present musically, however we achieved what we wished,” he recalled.
Although the SOI is comparatively new in comparison with the opposite orchestras Zubin has carried out, he felt it’s going to set up itself higher over time. “Every orchestra has its personal character and adaptability. Conducting them is a course of that builds up over a time frame. I normally do 4 or 5 rehearsals earlier than the ultimate present. Throughout these rehearsals, I select the type of strategy that must ship the very best outcomes, whether or not I will likely be agency or simply play information,” he stated. On the Mumbai rehearsals, he by no means performed taskmaster, however gently suggested the orchestra. His very presence made a distinction.
Zubin Mehta with Israeli soprano Chen Reiss
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy: NCPA
Through the years, Zubin maintained his shut friendship with pianist Daniel Barenboim and violinist Pinchas Zukerman, moreover famed sitar maestro Pt Ravi Shankar, with whom he labored on the ‘Sitar Concerto No 2’. His different well-known album is the bestselling The Three Tenors In Live performance, the place he carried out singers Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras.
Zubin has confronted the occasional criticism too, usually for his glamorous picture. Some folks didn’t settle for his makes an attempt to collaborate with rock acts like Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull and The Who. He was additionally accused of being a ‘jetset conductor’, and his response was that he cherished travelling as a result of his telephone by no means rang on the airplane, and he might learn and memorise his scores in peace.
