Zubin A Musical Journey traces the nearly six-decade long, rich and uniquely variedcareer of the maestro. The only musician ever to simultaneously direct two major orchestras in North America, Mehta has worked with the most distinguished artistes of the last century. His extraordinary journey from Mumbai to some of the most prestigious podiums of the music world is a saga of genius and dedication. This meticulously researched authorized biography explores his life, musical legacy and association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Engagingly written, it offers an insightful window into the life of one of the twentieth century s greatest conductors.
Book I took my own sweet time to finish this book!! It's not exactly a topic that I am aware of, and frankly, the interest on Zubin was more academic than musical. Hence I had difficulty understanding the content when it came to operas and symphonies. The author states that this book is for the layman, however, I still found some parts of the book difficult to move on. There was a learning curve, had to continuously google search the different persons mentioned in the book. Author I should commend the author on doing such a thorough job in researching and compiling facts when writing this book. Hats off to his research and dedication.
Overall, I want to emphasize that the book was a difficult read for me, not because of any fault of the author, rather the topic was something quite alien to me. I have never heard any symphonies except for some popular short clips (5 mins max.) of Mozart, Dvorak or Bach. Planning to explore this domain in the coming years!!
Written in schoolboy English, this is an avoidable biography of Zubin Mehta. Tortuous sentences present a ton of facts, the latter being its only redeeming quality.