India’s most celebrated music conductor, Zubin Mehta was in town to launch the paperback edition of his autobiography, The Score of My Life.
Article by Lamya Karachiwala | DNA India
Mehta, conductor of Western Classical music revealed that the book was first written in German when a German publisher asked him to write about his experiences in Munich. From there, it got published in hardcover and has now become available in paperback. The book chronicles his journey of resilience and passion.
The conductor, who turns 80 next year, started his career when he was 18 to become one of the youngest conductors ever at the age of 25. When he was asked what drives him even today, he said, “It is undoubtedly the love for what I do that keeps me going. Besides, there is still so much music that has to be explored”. And if it gets repetitive performing the same set, “I find the experience different each time owing to a new venue, acoustic and the audience.”
Mehta, who debuted in Vienna, has been with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for over 46 years and has conducted for all the major philharmonics across the world. He feels that today, although musicians are technically very evolved, same cannot be said about their spiritual evolution.
Speaking about having performed in several conflict zones, he said he did so in Kashmir as well. That concert was a huge success. Not just the venue was packed but also 70% of Kashmir heard it on TV. Consequently, he wrote to the Governor of Kashmir that he would like to perform again on bigger scale. But he never heard from him.
