The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Zubin Mehta Return to Walt Disney Concert Hall, 10/30

Former LA Phil Music Director Zubin Mehta returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tuesday, October 30, at 8 pm. Joining them is thrilling pianist Yuja Wang performing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. Also on the program of Romantic Symphonies is a rare performance of Schubert's Third Symphony as well as Brahms' First Symphony. The concert is the first of the LA Phil's Visiting Orchestras series of the 2012/13 season.

Zubin Mehta first conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in 1961, substituting for Eugene Ormandy, and he became its Music Director in 1969. One of the great partnerships of our time, Mehta and the IPO have a huge discography, which includes a characteristically robust live account of Brahms' First Symphony from 2009. Mehta was music director of the LA Phil from 1962 until 1978, after which he served as music director of the New York Philharmonic for 13 years. During his decades as a conductor, Mehta has been hailed not only as a masterful musician, but also as an important humanitarian ambassador, bringing together cultures and countries in conflict through the power of music. He returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall in December to conduct the LA Phil in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his music directorship with the orchestra, with a repeat of his first concert as music director.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1936 by Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman, who founded the orchestra to fulfill his dream "to unite the desire of the country for an orchestra with the desire of the Jewish musicians for a country." Huberman spent countless hours persuading first-chair musicians of Eastern European and German orchestras, who had lost their jobs as a result of Nazism, to immigrate to Palestine. The inaugural concert, on December 26, 1936, was conducted by the legendary Arturo Toscanini to great acclaim with the "Palestine Orchestra," as it was then known, being characterized as "an orchestra of soloists." With Israel's independence in 1948, the ensemble was renamed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and is now considered one of the most important orchestras in the world.

Yuja Wang is widely recognized for playing that combines the spontaneity and fearless imagination of youth with the discipline and precision of a mature artist. She is regularly lauded for her controlled, prodigious technique, and her command of the piano has been described as "astounding" and "superhuman." She has been praised for her authority over the most complex technical demands of the repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, as well as her fresh interpretations and graceful, charismatic stage presence. One of her recent concerts was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "the latest installment in an unbroken, and growing string of musical triumphs. With her, there just doesn't seem to be any other kind." Yuja is an exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon.

Both concerts of the LA Phil's Visiting Orchestras series for the 2012/13 season are led by former LA Phil Music Directors. The next is the Philharmonia Orchestra with Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen, November 13.

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