Just in: Zubin Mehta suffers ‘acute exhaustion’
NewsThe Indian-US conductor has cancelled two weeks of Bavarian Radio concerts in Munich.
James Gaffigan, Daniel Harding and Ivan Fischer will jump in.
Mit großem Bedauern muss Zubin Mehta seine kommenden Verpflichtungen beim Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks aufgrund eines akuten Erschöpfungszustandes absagen. Für die Konzerte in der Isarphilharmonie am 3., 4. und 5. November konnte kurzfristig der US-amerikanische Dirigent James Gaffigan gewonnen werden. Das Benefizkonzert zugunsten des SZ-Adventskalenders am Freitag,
11. November, dirigiert Daniel Harding. Die jeweiligen Konzertprogramme bleiben unverändert. BR-KLASSIK überträgt die Konzerte am 4. und 11. November live im Radio.
I saw him on Florence on Saturday. He looked exceedingly frail. He stumbled on his way to the podium at the beginning of the concert. He was using a stick and after the first half as he left the stage he nearly fell at least three times. To the extent that a number of people went to his aid including some of the second violins who quickly dropped their instruments. He waved them off but he was very, very close to doing himself serious damage. There were audible gasps from the audience as he nearly toppled over. He is using a wheelchair it seems to get around the venue when not on stage.
His conducting was very good. Really enjoyed it. Bit unquestionably he is physically in a very bad way. And he needs to look after himself. This could well be the end. Certainly looked it to me.
Oh dear, stage falls and gasping audiences.
Like Haitink…
One of my abiding memories is of Harnoncourt coming onto the platform of the Musikverein, frail and with a walking stick, in May 2015. His last concert there and he lasted 10 more months.
How was the music?
That Florence concert should have been the one with Pollini playing the K 595 Mozart concerto.
Could you perhaps comment a bit on Pollini’s performance and how concerto went?
I couldn’t find any reviews online, even in Italian language.
Thanks very much in advance!
I enjoyed it very much but I am by no means a critic and certainly I am not properly equipped to comment on classical music maybe to the extent that you might like. Certainly Pollini didn’t show any effects of his recent illness.
However the audience loved it. One very odd thing happened. The encore! He repeated the second movement. And then the first! But they didn’t bother with the third! Never seen that before!
Overall I enjoyed it greatly.
Great, thank you so much for your positive comment and your information about the encores.
Well Pollini has had severe heart problems so maybe he didn’t show either ?
Let’s hope he recovers. Take it easy, Maestro.
I can’t understand why conductors they don’t like retirement.
Why not to learn from Heifetz Horowitz and others?
There are more things in life to enjoy than music.
Actually, the pianist who was certainly great in his fairly long prime, but continued performing well into his 80s when he was hitting more wrong notes than ever before, is not such a good example. The main reason for conductors is probably the feeling of power and control, as well as several decades of realizing and therefore taking for granted that, unlike with singers and instrumentalists, 99% of the audience will never notice their errors. Meanwhile, my sincere good wishes to Maestro Zubin Mehta!
Why is it that so many people who write comments on this site don’t understand that musicians make music because they love making music — more than anything else they might possibly be doing in their lives — that, for many, it’s what keeps them alive?
Some or possibly many of us do understand this, but no one denies anyone the right of making music. However, there is a substantial difference between doing this for one’s pleasure – for example together with friends in chamber situations or in free concerts with community orchestras – and performing it with “captive” professional orchestra members in front of paying audiences.
The should retire at 65. And enjoy the money
Conductors should retire when they can no longer stand throughout the duration of a concert. It is simply not possible to be as effective on the podium while seated.
Hell no. If artists can make it safely to and from the stage, enjoy themselves and can share their wisdom with younger musicians and ecstatic audiences, isn’t that more satisfying than anything else money can buy?
Many aging artists have a lot to offer. I cherish my memories of Böhm and Wand as octogenarians, and Blomstedt and Horszowsky as nonagenarians. Even hearing live the legendary voice of then 75-year-old Hans Hotter as Schigolch was truly memorable.
On the other hand, I am making a conscious effort to forget a recital by then 85-year-old Wilhelm Kempff.
Nevertheless, sometimes old people’s vulnerabilities should be taken into account. Mehta may have delivered this week, but come on: his own health aside, having scheduled appearances with Pollini and Barenboim for this fall was overly optimistic.
Only those conductors “should retire at 65”, if they are healthy, who should not have become conductors in the first place. The good ones should keep sharing their talents with musicians and listeners as long as they are strong enough to do it.
Well thank goodness he hasn’t suffered ‘acute depletion’ of his bank balance.
That’s a pretty nasty comment, “Violinista”.
I hope that Maestro Zubin lives out the rest of his days (which I hope are many) in peace and happiness.
Yes nasty indeed, but not as nasty as the consequences of the hugely inflated fees of some, not all, conductors . I wonder what Mehli, another violinista, would think?
Take a well-deserved rest Zubi!
This was a grand concert, delayed from last January. The
orchestra sound was silken, winds and strings blending
with Pollini’s piano. Mehta swayed to the Mozart, and I made a note to see videos from
earlier years. The rapport between Mehta and Pollini, the
care of each towards the other, made for the rarest occasion.
And yes, the encores were entire
movements of the concerto itself. Why do we go to concerts? To see and to hear, and to live. Bravi!
Many human beings far younger than Zubin Mehta languish in retirement homes with all manner of depredations. Good luck to Maestro Mehta for lasting this long!!
Many people far younger than Zubin Mehta languish in retirement homes with all manner of depredations. Good luck to Maestro Mehta for lasting this long!!
It’s sad to see the previous generation of great (or at least prominent) musicians decline and fade away. No doubt there are others on the rise to take their place, though I’m not nearly as familiar with them. Maybe they just remind me that I’m getting older myself. Best wishes to Maestro Mehta.
Not surprised with all the dodgy vaccines around these days.
I am surprised you find a platform to post your disinformation.
Aren’t you grateful for the relative herd immunity we vaccinated provide you for so many debilitating or deadly diseases?
And that’s just the visible part of his infirmity.
Presbycusis, age-related hearing loss, occurs in 33% of those over age 65, it gradually begins at around age 50 with the ability to hear high-pitched tones like the upper violins or high winds.
The bad news is that older conductors are balancing the orchestra sound according to *their* ears, which have too much treble for younger people’s ears.
The good news is that 75% of the audience is just as old as the older conductors, so they are all in the same happy presbycusis boat.
Let me not get started on tempo and heart rate.