On Nov. 9, there was a secular service at the place I call my church — Walt Disney Concert Hall. Former Music Director and now Conductor Emeritus of the LA Phil Zubin Mehta led the Los Angeles Philharmonic on one monumental work, Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in C minor. While the performance was not religious in any obvious sense, it was nevertheless highly spiritual. Bruckner, after all, was a very religious man, and except for his final symphony, the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, his eighth symphony is perhaps the most spiritual.
The almost 90-year-old Mehta last conducted the LA Phil almost one year ago on Dec. 9, 2024 (see https://culturespotla.com/zubin-mehta-conducts-brahms-at-disney-hall-with-leonidas-kavakos/). At that time, he was frail and walked very slowly and carefully to the podium. He has been sitting while conducting for some time. On Sunday, almost 15 minutes after the scheduled start time of 2 p.m. (probably to allow latecomers to arrive as there would be no intermission), Mehta was pushed onstage in a wheelchair to thunderous applause. He was then helped onto the podium where he slowly seated himself. And then for the next 75 minutes, he conducted a work that has deep personal meaning for him.
Several weeks ago, we read that Mehta had cancelled the concerts remaining on his tour for health reasons, so we were worried whether he would still appear this past weekend. But in addition to Bruckner, the LA Phil also has a special place in Mehta’s heart, having been the music director for 16 years from 1962 until 1978, and having returned almost every year since to conduct the Phil. So, it was with great relief that he did not cancel his LA concerts.
For all his frailty, Mehta still led the Phil in a moving performance. It was a deliberate performance. Mehta did not rush, even in the Scherzo. He brought out the sheer ephemeral beauty of the Trio and of the first crescendo in the third movement labeled Adagio: Feierlich langsam, doch nicht schleppened (slowly, solemnly but not dragging) punctuated at the end of the long phrase by the heavenly sounding harps. Mehta showed us that conductors don’t need to communicate to the orchestra with broad, energetic hand and arm movements to convey their wishes.
It was a testament to the audience adoration of and respect for him that they were riveted for 75 minutes during a symphony that may not be that familiar to everyone. At the conclusion, Mehta shook the hands of all the string players sitting in a semi-circle around him, and both the audience and the musicians showed their reverence for the elderly master with applause and cheers.
There was a sense that this might be the last time audiences in LA will see Mehta conduct the LA Phil, and that was made even more poignant at the end of the concert when after he had all the soloists take their bows, as he was being wheeled offstage, he waved goodbye to the audience.
—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA
For information about upcoming concerts, visit www.laphil.com.
Photo of Zubin Mehta courtesy of LA Phil