February 5 Program Features Works by Beethoven, Schoenberg and Berlioz in 70th Anniversary Gala Concert

February 6 Concert Offers Works by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Ravel

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5 AT 8 PM

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6 AT 8 PM

American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Sponsors Both Performances

Former Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Zubin Mehta and New York Philharmonic Music Director Lorin Maazel lead the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in two concerts on Monday and Tuesday, February 5 and 6, 2007, 8 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Mehta, who is music director for life of the Israel Philharmonic since 1969, conducts the 70th anniversary program on February 5: Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3, Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. Maazel's program features Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture and Italian Symphony, Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture/Fantasy, and Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2.

Mehta was music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic 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. Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became music director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002, 60 years after his debut with the orchestra. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) was established in 1936 by Bronislaw Huberman, a Zionist who founded the orchestra in order to save Jewish musicians in Europe from the Holocaust, which he foresaw. 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, it was renamed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and is now considered one of the most important orchestras in the world today.

"Upbeat Live," a free event open to all ticket holders, is held one hour before each performance in BP Hall featuring Veronika Krausas, composer and lecturer at USC's Thornton School of Music, on February 5, and Daniel Kessner, composer, conductor, and flutist, on February 6.

ZUBIN MEHTA, conductor, was born in 1936 in Bombay and received his first musical education from his father Mehli Mehta, the founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. After first studying medicine for two semesters, he concentrated on music in Hans Swarowsky's conducting class at the Vienna Academy. By his mid-20s he had already conducted both the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, and he retains close ties with both. Mehta was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1967, becoming Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1962, a post he retained until 1978. In 1969 he also became Music Adviser to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and was made Music Director of that orchestra in 1977; in 1981 he was made Music Director for life. Mehta has conducted nearly two thousand concert performances with this extraordinary ensemble on tours spanning five continents. In 1978 he became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic commencing a tenure lasting 13 years, the longest in the orchestra's history and, since 1985, he has been chief conductor of the Maggio Musicale in Florence. Mehta has been Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera and the Bavarian State Orchestra since 1998. Mehta made his debut as an opera conductor with Tosca in Montreal in 1964 and since then has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, and the opera houses of Montreal, Chicago, and Florence, as well as at the Salzburg Festival. In 1999, Mehta was presented the Lifetime Achievement Peace and Tolerance Award of the United Nations by Lea Rabin. In April 2001 President Chirac created him Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. In 2004 the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra bestowed on him the title of Honorary Conductor, and in 2006, the Los Angeles Philharmonic honored him with its Distinguished Service Award.

LORIN MAAZEL, conductor, in the course of his first four seasons as the New York Philharmonic's Philharmonic's music director, conducted four World Premiere-New York Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams, and the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos. In 2005, he led the Philharmonic's two-part 75th Anniversary Tour to thirteen cities and five countries, including three concerts in Dresden, Germany, as part of the reconsecration of the historic Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), and also led the June 2006 New York Philharmonic Tour of Italy, sponsored by Generali. Previously, he led the Orchestra on tours to Asia, three southern U.S. states, the American Midwest, and in residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado. Maazel led the orchestra's inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series - a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes. He also conducted the first in a series of CDs of New York Philharmonic premieres and commissions to be released by New World Records. Prior to his tenure as music director, Maazel conducted more than 100 performances of the New York Philharmonic as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra (1993-2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988-96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982-84) - the first American to hold that position; music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972-82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965-71).

The ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (IPO) performs more than 200 concerts annually, playing in subscription concerts in all the major cities throughout Israel. It also takes part in special opera productions, some of them in the ancient Amphitheatre at Caesarea. With its annual foreign tours, it is "Israel's best ambassador abroad" and contributes to the national effort with special concerts for the country's soldiers at times of war even in the most remote outposts. Thus, the IPO played at the celebration of the Declaration of Israel's Independence (1948), in newly liberated Beer-Sheba (1948), on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem after it had been reunified and in Ophira (1967), in Bethlehem's Nativity Square (Christmas 1968), at the "Good Fence" on the Lebanese border (1977) and at Massada (1988). The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has done much to further the careers of Israeli artists and young talent from Israel and abroad. Originally, the IPO included many musicians who came mainly from USSR and the USA, but today more than half the IPO members have been born and trained for the most part in Israel. The IPO has played host to many of the world's greatest conductors, including two particularly associated with the orchestra, Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta. Bernstein maintained close ties with the IPO since his debut with the orchestra in 1947 and was named IPO Laureate Conductor in 1988. Maestro Mehta first appeared in Israel when both he and the IPO were 25 years old, and a close bond has been maintained between ever since. In 1992, the IPO appointed Kurt Masur honorary guest conductor. The IPO has incorporated in its mission the nurturing and development of young and gifted musicians and provides opportunities for them through scholarship funds, support of the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, an annual "Young Artists Concert", and the annual "The Maestro and His Young Guests" youth concert.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music - Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association's involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2007 AT 8 PM

ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

ZUBIN MEHTA, conductor

BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3

SCHOENBERG Verklärte Nacht

BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique

Benefit tickets available; contact the AFIPO West Coast office at (310) 445-8406 or email events@afipo.org.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2007 AT 8 PM

ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

LORIN MAAZEL, conductor

MENDELSSOHN Hebrides Overture

MENDELSSOHN Italian Symphony

TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Overture/Fantasy

RAVEL Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2

"Upbeat Live," a free event open to all ticket holders, is held one hour before each performance in BP Hall featuring Veronika Krausas, composer and lecturer at University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music, on February 5, and Daniel Kessner, composer, conductor, and flutist, on February 6.

American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Sponsors Both Performances

Tickets ($39 - $135) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For all information, please call 323.850.2000.

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