Mehta Zubin, *29 April 1936 Mumbai, Indian conductor. He is the son of Mehli Mehta, a violinist and founder of the Mumbai Symphony Orchestra. He learned to play the violin and piano, then took up and abandoned medical studies to enter the Akademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, where in 1954–60 he studied double bass, composition and conducting under H. Swarowsky. He completed his conducting studies at summer courses in Siena with A. Galliera and C. Zecchi and in Tanglewood with E. de Carvalho. In 1958, he won the main prize at the 1st International Conducting Competition organised by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. After a year of cooperation with this orchestra, he began conducting various ensembles, including Wiener Philharmoniker (1959). In 1961–67, he was music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and in 1961, he made his debut in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1962–78, he was the music director of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra and made great contributions to raising the level and prestige of this ensemble. From 1968, he collaborated with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv and in 1970–77, he was a musical advisor and permanent conductor of it; in 1977, he was appointed its music director, and in 1981, its director for life. In 1976–91, he was music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1998, he has been music director of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Mehta made his debut as an opera conductor in 1964 in Montreal (Puccini’s Tosca), then began working with leading theatres, including Metropolitan Opera House (Verdi’s Aida, 1965), La Scala in Milan (R. Strauss’s Salome, 1965), Wiener Staatsoper (Wagner’s Lohengrin, 1973), Covent Garden (Verdi’s Otello, 1977), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1995). Mehta’s interpretations are characterised by strong energy and sharp rhythm, and the expression of the artistic message of his performances is deepened by an extremely expressive, sometimes exaggerated gesture. He specialises in late Romantic (mainly German) and 20th-century music. He has performed numerous premieres of contemporary works, including by G. von Einem (Hexameron, 1970), S. Barbera (Third Essay, 1978), G. Schuller (Concerto quarternio, 1984) and K. Penderecki (dedicated to Mehta De natura sonoris II, 1970, Kosmogony, 1970 and Symphony No. 2, 1980).
