On Saturday night, Zubin Mehta, conductor emeritus of the LA Philharmonic, and revered and esteemed by fans of the Phil, returned for his annual pilgrimage to Los Angeles to conduct two warhorse symphonies by Beethoven, the Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastoral,” and the Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica.”
After the orchestra tuned, the 87-year-old Mehta entered the hall, shuffling slowly, to thunderous applause and cheering and a standing ovation from a surprisingly not full house. He then seated himself on the podium, which is how he conducts nowadays.
Mehta performed the Symphony No. 6 first and his performance can only be described as a pastoral version of the “Pastoral” symphony. Unlike recent more exciting performances (see our review of the PSO), Mehta’s was a calmer and quieter one. Perhaps that is what Beethoven intended. Either way, it did convey the mood that Beethoven wanted conveyed. Mehta also performed some magic with the orchestra, holding the strings back at times so one could better hear the woodwinds, both in their solos and in their ensemble playing. The tempos were nothing out of the ordinary, but overall the somewhat muted performance worked.
After intermission, Mehta returned to another standing ovation to conduct Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony.
He took the first movement a tad too slow, which gave it the overall feeling of plodding just a bit. But the second movement, Marcia funebre: Adagio assai, was as gut-wrenching as Beethoven’s writing. Mehta took the third movement, Scherzo: Allegra vivace, at a perfectly quick clip. The Phi’s horn section really came to play during the Trio, which they pulled off marvelously. Mehta’s Finale was also stellar, building momentum to the Coda, which is marked Presto, because Beethoven, scoring 16th notes for many of the players, probably wanted the momentum to rush to the fortissimo conclusion. However, for some reason, Mehta slowed the tempo down, not too much, but noticeably, perhaps for emphasis. For this reviewer, it took some of the steam out of an otherwise stellar performance. However, it would take more than a slight tempo change to do any damage to the greatest symphony every written.
It is always a treat to see one of the elder statesmen of conducting in front of the orchestra he led for so many years. It was clear that the affinity the audience felt for him was mutual.
—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA
The concert repeats today at 2 p.m. Visit www.laphil.com.
Zubin Mehta / Photo courtesy of LA Phil