Zubin Mehta. An under-rated conductor?

[cloughie]

Another LP I was fond of was Candide Overture/ An American in Paris/ Appalachian Spring - haven't heard it for years. Has it made it onto CD?

Yes, and it looks like you could get a second hand copy at a very attractive price from Amazon.

[pastoralguy]

I took the Mehta set round to a friend's last night and we listened to

Tchaikovsky no. 4, the Italian Caprice, Schubert no.5 and Heldenleben.

We thought the Strauss was the best of the bunch with very dramatic moments and fine playing. The Tchaikovsky, although good, has been superseded by more recent and better performances. It was exciting although I feel that this interpretation didn't really dig much below the surface, a charge that others have laid at Mehta's door. The Schubert was good, if not again, hitting the heights of other performances in this set.

I wouldn't regard these as duds but they are not, imvho, the best of this retrospective.

[Barbirollians]

Cross referencing with the Bonynge thread I am glad Mehta was conducting when she sang Turandot.

[pastoralguy]

Cross referencing with the Bonynge thread I am glad Mehta was conducting when she sang Turandot.

That is a WONDERFUL recording! I listened to it a lot when I was involved in a production years ago and I still feel this is, for me, a Desert Island Disc. (Where I could play it as loud as it deserves to be played! The recording is fabulous too)

[Richard Tarleton]

Cross referencing with the Bonynge thread I am glad Mehta was conducting when she sang Turandot.

One of Culshaw's "very, very few exceptions" . A BAL choice a while back.

[cloughie]

I took the Mehta set round to a friend's last night and we listened to

Tchaikovsky no. 4, the Italian Caprice, Schubert no.5 and Heldenleben.

We thought the Strauss was the best of the bunch with very dramatic moments and fine playing. The Tchaikovsky, although good, has been superseded by more recent and better performances. It was exciting although I feel that this interpretation didn't really dig much below the surface, a charge that others have laid at Mehta's door. The Schubert was good, if not again, hitting the heights of other performances in this set.

I wouldn't regard these as duds but they are not, imvho, the best of this retrospective.

His Heldenleben was of similar vintage to his Also Sprach, recordings and performances Which match up well to anything since. His Tchaik 4 - I think he recorded twice for Decca, the earlier on on SXL6323 and later as part of a boxed set of Syms 1 to 6, which is probably the one in the big box you have now.

[EdgeleyRob]

His LAPO Saint-Saens organ symphony is still making a few bucks for Decca https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saint-Saens...ns+organ+mehta
I have a great fondness for it: it was the first 'proper' LP (along with a few EMI samplers) my dad bought to go with his first and only hifi stereo system. Therefore my own first exposure to stereo LPs, and big unknown classical works in state of art sound.

His original LP and a CD reissue still on my shelves

I agree about the similarity between the careers and critical reception of Mehta and Maazel - the same thought had occurred to me recently. Both were early stars for Decca ffss too.

I have just listened to this,I'd forgotten that I had it,found it while having a rummage through a drawer full of CDs,it's rather good.

[Dave2002]

His LAPO Saint-Saens organ symphony is still making a few bucks for Decca https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saint-Saens...ns+organ+mehta

Seems only to be available as "used" now, though there might be imports from somewhere else where Warner/Universal/Decca are making money.

Actually it is still available as a reissue here - http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/adv...ll&label=&cat= 2 CDs for £11.50.

[EdgeleyRob]

Seems only to be available as "used" now, though there might be imports from somewhere else where Warner/Universal/Decca are making money.

Actually it is still available as a reissue here - http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/adv...ll&label=&cat= 2 CDs for £11.50.

That's the one I have,a fiver on Amazon.

[cloughie]

That's the one I have,a fiver on Amazon.

A fiver well spent,edge