Zubin Mehta Celebrates 89 Years Of Musical Mastery And Enduring Charm

On Tuesday, the great conductor Zubin Mehta celebrated his 89^th birthday. The date, April 29, is special in the world of music as it also marks the birth anniversaries of jazz legend Duke Ellington and tabla maestro Ustad Allarakha.

The best thing about Mehta is that he has continued to conduct despite his age and slower physical movement. Even after being advised rest in 2022, and cancelling his concerts in Mumbai then, Mehta fulfilled his promise to conduct the Symphony Orchestra Of India (SOI). He did shows in 2023, and the past year has seen two visits. It goes without saying that the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre was packed each time.

In August 2024, the Mumbai-born conductor helmed two shows featuring the compositions of Austrian genius Johann Strauss II and two containing the repertoire of German master Richard Strauss. In February 2025, he conducted the Opera Gala, containing excerpts from Georges Bizet’s Carmen and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. These shows were preceded by two other concerts. All through, his charm on stage has remained intact.

Over the past 30 years, one has had the chance to attend many of Mehta’s press conferences. Usually, each journalist is given time for two questions, and one has to be specific. Questions have ranged from his choice of programme, to his experience of conducting different orchestras, to his collaborations with the Three Tenors and sitar maestro Pt Ravi Shankar, to his love for Test cricket and Parsi food.

Though queries are repeated, Mehta answers them in detail. On his much talked-about concert with the Bavarian State Opera in Srinagar in 2013, he took pride in how the musicians went ahead despite threats from separatists to disrupt the event. Another favourite story is of his 1967 visit with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He recalled, “The show was on Diwali, and we took two hours to get to Shanmukhananda Hall. I had told the musicians they would hear firecrackers while playing. Some of them thought they were being bombarded but they loved it.”

At rehearsals, one has seen Mehta to be a hard taskmaster, though he keeps his calm and doesn’t raise his voice. While practising Schubert’s Eighth (Unfinished) Symphony a few years ago, one noticed that the cello section wasn’t playing the way he wanted. He made the entire orchestra play that movement till they got it right.

Among the orchestras he has conducted, the SOI is relatively new. Mehta feels it will establish itself over a period of time. In a press conference last year, he said, “Each orchestra has its own personality and flexibility. Conducting them is a process that builds up slowly. I usually do four or five rehearsals before the final show. During those rehearsals, I choose the kind of approach that will have to deliver the best results, whether I will be firm or just play guide.” Whichever method he chooses, his very presence makes a difference.

Though based in the US, Mehta has retained his Indian passport. Among all his visits, his sessions in Mumbai in 2016 remain memorable for a special reason. His 80^th birthday was approaching, but on the very day, he had been scheduled to play Ludwig Van Beethoven’s works in Vienna. A few weeks earlier, he conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at three concerts in Mumbai.

Two shows, held at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, featured violinist Pinchas Zuckerman, cellist Amanda Forsyth and pianist Dennis Matsuev. The third, at the Brabourne Stadium, had the renowned tenor Andrea Bocceli.

Before the shows, he was present at two events at the Taj Mahal Hotel. The launch of the book Zubin Mehta: A Musical Journey by Bakhtiar K Dadabhoy was followed on the next day at an In Conversation session with noted physician Jehangir Sorabjee. His comments on being too old-fashioned for IPL and how he taught the Taj chef to make the Parsi egg dish akhuri had the audience in splits. But that’s Zubin Mehta for you, someone who loves to call a spade a spade.