More recently, Mehta made several tours with the Bavarian State Opera and kept up a busy schedule of guest conducting appearances.

His father had previously lived in New York to study with violinist Ivan Galamian, a noted teacher who also taught Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman.

He remained at the academy for three years, during which time he also studied the double bass, which he played in the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.

The prize included a year's contract as associate conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, which he conducted in 14 concerts, all of which received rave reviews.

[7] At that competition he attracted the notice of Charles Munch, then the conductor of the Boston Symphony, who later helped his career.

[6] During 1960 and 1961, Mehta was asked to substitute for celebrated maestros throughout the world, receiving high critical acclaim for most of those concerts.

[5] [Mehta] has the capacity to control every sound made by an orchestra, and he does this with the simplest of gestures, every one of which has an immediate and perceptible effect.

In 1960, with the help of Charles Munch, Mehta became the chief conductor and Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1967.

[9] In 1961, he was named assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP), although the orchestra's music director designate, Georg Solti, was not consulted on the appointment, and resigned in protest.

[5] As the LAP's first conductor in four years, Mehta worked to polish its overall sound to something closer to the Vienna Philharmonic's.

He succeeded in making its sound warmer and richer by fostering competition among the musicians, shifting assignments, giving promotions and changing seating arrangements.

[6] He also inspired the musicians; 21-year-old cellist Jacqueline du Pré said, "He provides a magic carpet for you to float on."

[5] Also that year, Mehta conducted the world premier of Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra.

That fall he took the 107-member Los Angeles Philharmonic on an eight-week tour, including engagements in Vienna, Paris, Athens, and Bombay.

In 1966, he toured with the orchestra, and during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, he rushed back to Israel to conduct several special concerts to demonstrate solidarity with its people.

[1] He conducted concerts with the IPO in South Lebanon in 1982, after which Arabs rushed onstage to hug the musicians.

[13] Among the reasons he wanted to direct the NYP was that it allowed him to experiment with new ideas, such as taking the orchestra to Harlem.

Accompanying the orchestra with Mehta for various concerts were Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, and Kathleen Battle.

This production starred Catherine Malfitano in the title role, Plácido Domingo as Cavaradossi and Ruggero Raimondi as Baron Scarpia.

In June 1994, Mehta performed the Mozart Requiem with the members of the Sarajevo Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at the ruins of Sarajevo's National Library, in a fundraising concert for the victims of armed conflict and remembrance of the thousands of people killed in the Yugoslav Wars.

In 1997 and 1998, Mehta worked in collaboration with Chinese film director Zhang Yimou on a production of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot, which they took to Florence and to Beijing, where it was staged in its actual surroundings in the Forbidden City, with over 300 extras and 300 soldiers, for nine historic performances.

In September 2013, Mehta appeared with the Bavarian State Orchestra at a special concert, Ehsaas e Kashmir, organized by the German Embassy in India, at Mughal Gardens, Srinagar.

[21] In October 2015, he returned to Chennai to perform with the Australian World Orchestra (AWO) at the Madras Music Academy.

[24] In December 2016, the Israel Philharmonic announced that Mehta would conclude his tenure as music director in October 2019.

They have a son, Mervon (since April 2009, Executive Director of Performing Arts for The Royal Conservatory in Toronto), and a daughter, Zarina.

The filmmaker joins the orchestra on a tour of Mumbai and meets with him for two interviews, in India and Tel Aviv.

[citation needed] Mehta has played himself as the pivotal figure in On Wings of Fire, a 1986 film about the history of Zoroastrianism and prophet Zarathushtra.

[citation needed] Mehta and his orchestra stars in the 2017 Spanish film documentary Dancing Beethoven, which tells the preparation of the Ninth Symphony.

[46] In 2005, Mehta and philanthropist Josef Buchmann founded the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music as a partnership between Tel Aviv University and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.