Young maestro takes baton as Israel Philharmonic's Zubin Mehta ends 50-year tenure

Record ID: 1438256

  • Title: Young maestro takes baton as Israel Philharmonic's Zubin Mehta ends 50-year tenure
  • Date: 24th October 2019
  • Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) MEHTA AND SHANI DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZUBIN MEHTA, MUSICAL DIRECTOR OF THE ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, SAYING: "Sometimes when we hear the sirens, we would stop the concert. Twenty minutes later, we continue. Audience never left. There was no panic, nothing! Not even for the orchestra either. So from that point of view, the Israeli audience is completely unique. Because they are, like us, growing up in times of crises. And they're used to it."
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2019 12:43
  • Keywords: Israel Zubin Mehta Israel Philharmonic Lahav Shani conductor Maestro orchestra classical music
  • Location: TEL AVIV, DOVEV, ISRAEL
  • City: TEL AVIV, DOVEV, ISRAEL
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA008B2GJSRD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT INCLUDES IMAGES WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Zubin Mehta was only 25 years old when he first conducted the Israel Philharmonic. Over half a century later, he's passing the baton to a fast-rising Israeli maestro some 53 years his junior.
    The 83-year-old Indian conductor capped off thousands of performances as music director of the renowned symphony orchestra in a series of farewell concerts in Tel Aviv this week, making way for Lahav Shani, 30, to take the reins.
    Shani has dazzled audiences for over a decade as both conductor and pianist, building an enviable portfolio of podium appointments in Europe and debasing questions about his youth with his virtuosic musical bravado. He will become music director in 2020.
    Mumbai-born Mehta's tenure with the ensemble has spanned much of Israel's dramatic history since the country's founding in 1948.
    During his six-decade career he also led the philharmonic orchestras of New York and Los Angeles and the main opera houses of Munich and Florence. But Israel's orchestra was a mainstay throughout.
    Mehta says he stayed on as music adviser and director since 1969, in part out of admiration for an Israeli audience that cherishes the arts during times of conflict. Israeli classical music fans celebrate Shani's appointment but say Mehta's retirement marks the end of an era.
    (Production: Rinat Harash, Rami Ayyub, Rami Amichai)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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