His rise in the music world was swift. Mehta was music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1967. In 1962, he became music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a position he held until 1978. In 2006, after a Philharmonic concert in the new Disney Hall where Mehta received a special award from the city of Los Angeles, Mark Swed wrote in the Los Angeles Times that "something strong and evidently indestructible runs deep between him and this community."
In 1969, Mehta was named Music Advisor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra where he became Music Director in 1978. In 1981, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra bestowed on Mehta the unique accolade of making him Music Director for Life. So far he has conducted more than 2,000 performances with extraordinary musicians on landmark tours across five continents. In 1978, Mehta became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic where his 13-year tenure would become the longest in the orchestra's history. Since 1985, he has been revitalizing opera as the chief conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. This year he completes his tenure as music director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich where his operatic triumphs are legend.
Mehta made his operatic debut in Puccini's "Tosca" in Montreal in 1964. Bringing to the stage the same intensity, truth and passion that he inevitably summons in the concert hall, Mehta's operatic career has followed a similar trailblazing path. He has led major productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Milan's La Scala and at the Salzburg Festival as well as in the major houses and festivals in Montreal, Chicago and Florence.
Mehta's recordings form a living panorama of the best music-making of this or any other era. There have been intensely personal live and studio performances of the classics of the canon, of Mozart and Beethoven, of Brahms, Berlioz and Mahler. Among his many operatic recordings are several that count among the finest of all time, including a stellar version of "Turandot" that marked the first time both Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti took the leading roles in Puccini's late masterpiece. A second "Turandot" recording acts as a souvenir of Mehta's historic performance of the opera in China's Forbidden City.
In 1969, Mehta was named Music Advisor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra where he became Music Director in 1978. In 1981, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra bestowed on Mehta the unique accolade of making him Music Director for Life. So far he has conducted more than 2,000 performances with extraordinary musicians on landmark tours across five continents. In 1978, Mehta became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic where his 13-year tenure would become the longest in the orchestra's history. Since 1985, he has been revitalizing opera as the chief conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. This year he completes his tenure as music director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich where his operatic triumphs are legend.
Mehta made his operatic debut in Puccini's "Tosca" in Montreal in 1964. Bringing to the stage the same intensity, truth and passion that he inevitably summons in the concert hall, Mehta's operatic career has followed a similar trailblazing path. He has led major productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Milan's La Scala and at the Salzburg Festival as well as in the major houses and festivals in Montreal, Chicago and Florence.
Mehta's recordings form a living panorama of the best music-making of this or any other era. There have been intensely personal live and studio performances of the classics of the canon, of Mozart and Beethoven, of Brahms, Berlioz and Mahler. Among his many operatic recordings are several that count among the finest of all time, including a stellar version of "Turandot" that marked the first time both Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti took the leading roles in Puccini's late masterpiece. A second "Turandot" recording acts as a souvenir of Mehta's historic performance of the opera in China's Forbidden City.
This year saw the publication in Germany of Mehta's autobiography, "Die Partitur meines Leben: Erinnerungen" ("The Score of My Life: Memories"). The memories are many, the life remarkable. "It all comes from the music," Mehta has said. "I do whatever the music demands. What is conducting? Conducting is communication. And what I communicate at the moment is what I feel and what my musicians need."
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