Murray Perahia With Zubin Mehta And The N.Y. Phil. Play Music Of Chopin And Bruckner – 1980 – Past Daily Mid-Week Concert

Murray Perahia – Throwing himself into everything with ferocious concentration

Murray Perahia with Zubin Mehta, cond – N.Y. Philiharmonic – April 27, 1980 (broadcast date) – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –

Another historic concert this week. The New York Philharmonic, led by Music Director Zubin Mehta and featuring the legendary Murray Perahia in a performance of the Chopin Piano Concerto Number 1.

Also on the bill is the Bruckner Symphony Number 9.

Originally studying to be a conductor, Bronx born Murray Perahia gravitated to the piano and it’s here where he has established himself as one of the foremost pianists of the later 20th century.

In recent years he has gone back to the podium, in between solo concerts, recording and chamber playing. At present he is Principle guest conductor of the St. Martin-in-the-fields orchestra. He has also, after 43 years, left his long-time relationship with Sony/Columbia and is now recording exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon.

Perahia has an extensive catalog of recordings, going back to 1973 – and an even more impressive cache of awards for many of those albums. They have been critically acclaimed as well as best-sellers. And at the ripe age of 70 shows no signs of slowing down, however a hand injury in 2005 sidelined him until 2007. But even at that, he was busy guest conducting. Just goes to show, you can keep a good legend down.

Zubin Mehta made a huge impression on Los Angeles, during his tenure from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. He was responsible for bringing new audiences to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and he was also widely known for his eclectic programming of concerts – not to mention his occasional foray into Pop Culture – evidenced by his UCLA Royce Hall appearance with the L.A. Phil. and The Mothers Of Invention – in which Mehta and his associates were endearingly referred to as Zubin And The Jets.

Two important figures in music and on the concert stage. A memorable concert from 1980 which certainly qualifies as Wednesday Anti-Road Rage music.

Turn up the volume, relax and enjoy.

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