Description
Maestro Zubin Mehta celebrates his 90th birthday on 29 April 2026. For much of the 1960s and 70s an exclusive Decca artist, he forged a remarkable recorded legacy that bridged Central European tradition and American dynamism. His performances combined interpretative insight with electrifying energy, captured in recordings renowned for their brilliance and sonic splendour.
Spanning repertoire from Mozart to Mahler, this comprehensive box set gathers Mehtas Decca and Deutsche Grammophon recordings over nearly 50 years from 1965 to 2013. Arranged alphabetically by composer and supplemented by thematic collections, it reflects two of his principal artistic homes Israel and Vienna while also showcasing landmark collaborations in Berlin, London, Florence, and New York. The Mehta/Decca story began in Vienna in 1965, when, just days after his 26th birthday, he recorded a Bruckner Ninth Symphony that remains a touchstone of the catalogue.
This Philharmonic anthology features complete symphony cycles of Schubert with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Schumann with the Wiener Philharmoniker, alongside two distinguished Beethoven Piano Concerto cycles with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Wiener Philharmoniker, and with Radu Lupu and the Israel Philharmonic. Among the celebrated soloists represented are Lang Lang, Mischa Maisky, Shlomo Mintz, Luciano Pavarotti, Itzhak Perlman, Leontyne Price, Arthur Rubinstein, Joan Sutherland, and Jnos Starker. A discerning champion of emerging talent, Mehta also partnered with David Garrett (in Bruch and Brahms) and Sayaka Shoji (in a programme of Romantic virtuoso works). Live recordings include highlights from the 1982 Huberman Festival (featuring a dream cast of violinists Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Shlomo Mintz, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, and Pinchas Zukerman) and a 1988 celebration concert in memory of Georg Solti (with Angela Gheorghiu and Anne Sofie von Otter).
Not to be forgotten is the classic recording of Schmidts sheerly gorgeous Fourth Symphony, recorded at the request of the Wiener Philharmoniker, the iridescent incidental music for Beethovens Creatures of Prometheus and a suave Mendelssohn Octet in an orchestral version performed by the string section of the Israel Philharmonic. The set includes Mehtas major opera recordings Turandot, La fanciulla del West, Il trovatore and La traviata and brings together several performances receiving their first international CD and digital release.
Presented with original jackets, a selection of rare photographs and newly commissioned liner notes by David Patmore, James Jolly and Cyrus Meher-Homji, this edition offers a fitting tribute to one of the great conductors of our time.
CD 1:
BARTK Concerto for Orchestra Hungarian Sketches IPO
CDs 24:
BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos 15 Vladimir Ashkenazy, WP
CDs 58:
BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos 15 2 Rondos Op.51 Piano Sonatas 19 & 20 Radu Lupu, IPO
CD 9:
BEETHOVEN Die Geschpfe des Prometheus Ballet music IPO
CD 10:
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique NYP
CD 11:
BERLIOZ Harold en Italie Daniel Benyamini, IPO
CD 12:
BLOCH Voice in the Wilderness Schelomo Jnos Starker, IPO
CD 13:
BRAHMS Symphony No.1 Tragic Overture WP
CD 14:
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.1 Arthur Rubinstein, IPO
CD 15:
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.2 Vladimir Ashkenazy, LSO
CD 16:
BRAHMS Violin Concerto BRUCH Violin Concerto No.1 David Garrett, IPO
CDs 1718:
BRUCKNER Symphony No.9 Te Deum Mass No.2 Wiener Staatsopernchor, WP
CD 19:
CHOPIN Piano Concertos 1 & 2 Lang Lang, WP
CD 20:
DVORK Symphony No.7 IPO
CD 21:
DVORK Cello Concerto R. STRAUSS Don Quixote Mischa Maisky, Tabea Zimmermann, BP
CD 22:
LALO Symphonie espagnole VIEUXTEMPS Violin Concerto No.5
SAINT-SANS Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (1988) Shlomo Mintz, IPO
CD 23:
LISZT Les Prludes
WAGNER Preludes Lohengrin Acts I & III Parsifal Die Meistersinger von Nrnberg WP
CD 24:
MAHLER Symphony No.1 IPO
CD 25:
MAHLER Symphony No.2 WP
CD 26:
MAHLER Symphony No.4 Barbara Hendricks, IPO
CD 27:
MENDELSSOHN Octet (orchestral version) IPO
CDs 2829:
MOZART Symphonies 34, 39 & 40 Eine kleine Nachtmusik IPO
CD 30:
PAGANINI Violin Concerto No.1 Boris Belkin, IPO
CD 31:
PAGANINI Violin Concerto No.1 CHAUSSON Pome
WAXMAN Carmen Fantasie MILSTEIN Paganiniana Sayaka Shoji, IPO
CDs 3233:
PUCCINI La fanciulla del West Carol Neblett, Plcido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, ROH
CDs 3435:
PUCCINI Turandot Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caball, Luciano Pavarotti, LPO
CD 36:
SARASATE Carmen Fantasy CHAUSSON Pome (1986)
SAINT-SANS Havanaise Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (1986)
RAVEL Tzigane Itzhak Perlman, NYP
CD 37:
SCHMIDT Symphony No.4 EINEM Symphony No.1 Philadelphia WP
CDs 3842:
SCHUBERT Symphonies 16, 8, 9 Rosamunde (excerpts) IPO
CDs 4345:
SCHUMANN Symphonies 14 Overtures Genoveva Manfred WP
CDs 4647:
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.5 Swan Lake Suite The Nutcracker Suite IPO
CDs 4851:
VERDI Il trovatore Antonella Banaudi, Shirley Verrett, Leo Nucci
VERDI La traviata Kiri Te Kanawa, Alfredo Kraus, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, MMF
CD 52:
VERDI Arias from Aida Un ballo in maschera Otello Ernani Leontyne Price, IPO
MASSENET Manon Ah! dispar, vision Luciano Pavarotti, NYP
CD 53:
ROSSINI La scala di seta Overture VERDI La traviata Preludes I & III I vespri siciliani Overture
WEBER Oberon Overture MENDELSSOHN A Midsummer Nights Dream Nocturne & Scherzo IPO
CD 54:
ROSSINI Guillaume Tell Overture BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No.3
TCHAIKOVSKY Capriccio italien RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio espagnol IPO
CDs 5556:
HUBERMAN FESTIVAL, 1982 VIVALDI Four Seasons Concerto in B minor RV 580 (Op.3/10)
J.S. BACH Concerto for 2 Violins MOZART Sinfonia concertante K.364; Concertone K.190 Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Ivry Gitlis, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Haendel, IPO
CD 57:
SIR GEORG SOLTI: A CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE IN MUSIC
BEETHOVEN Egmont Overture MOZART Mass in C minor Laudamus te Le nozze di Figaro Voi che sapete Anne Sofie von Otter
VERDI La forza del destino Pace, pace, mio Dio! PUCCINI Gianni Schicchi O mio babbino caro Angela Gheorghiu
WAGNER Gtterdmmerung Dawn, Siegfrieds Rhine Journey & Closing Scene LPO
BP = Berliner Philharmoniker
IPO = Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
LPO = London Philharmonic Orchestra
MMF = Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
NYP = New York Philharmonic
WP = Wiener Philharmoniker
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