Conductor Zubin Mehta Cancels Bavarian State Opera Concerts Due to Ill Health

Needing “a necessary break,” Mehta will not be conducting Don Carlo in May 2025

Initially scheduled to conduct Verdi’s opera Don Carlo at the Bavarian State Opera this May, conductor Zubin Mehta has withdrawn from the performances for health reasons. 

Ivan Repusic, Chief Conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, will be stepping in for Mehta to lead the production between May 4 and 17. 

Having served as Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera and the Bavarian State Orchestra from 1998 to 2006, Mehta says he regrets the cancellation but is looking forward to his return to the State Opera in December this year. 

“It is with great regret that the Bavarian State Opera announces that Zubin Mehta will not be able to conduct Don Carlo in May 2025 due to a necessary break,” wrote the orchestra. “Fortunately, we have been able to secure a last-minute replacement for the production in Ivan Repušić.”

Mehta’s cancellations also affect his engagements on May 21 and 22 with the Munich Philharmonic, where he serves as Conductor Laureate. There, Pablo Heras-Casado will be stepping in, having previously conducted the orchestra on two tour concerts in Vienna and Budapest. 

“We thank all concertgoers for their understanding and are already looking forward to seeing Zubin Mehta again next season,” the Munich Philharmonic expressed.

One of the most eminent conductors working today, Mehta had conducted the Vienna, Berlin, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras, all by the age of 25. In the 1960s and 70s, he held music directorships at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1977, he was named chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and was appointed music director for life in 1981.