Finding fresh magic in Aida

"Culture is there, talent is there. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have good conservatories. And now you have so many concert halls. Guangzhou Opera House is one of the most beautiful architectures in the world and NCPA has six to eight new productions every year," he says, noting that he toured with Valencia Opera House Orchestra to nine cities in China, and eight of them have nice concert halls.

"As an Indian I'm jealous. We have one concert hall in Mumbai, no concert hall in Delhi or Calcutta. I dream my country will copy (your development) one day and I wait."

But the maestro has concerns about the Chinese scene as well: "I heard you have 10 orchestras in Beijing. I don't know whether you need 10. New York has one."

The audiences for classical music are decreasing in many places. Mehta says orchestras need to focus on arranging appealing programs for younger audiences.

In Israel a few years ago, he says, they started concerts called "jeans concerts", which people don't need to dress up to go to. The orchestra shortens one concert from two and a half hours to one hour and 20 minutes. The conductors talk about the music before the concert, and after the staged music, people go to dance in the lobby.

The energetic maestro says he would like to forget about his 80-year celebration in two years, though people won't let him forget. There will be many celebrations in Vienna, Berlin, Florence, Israel and elsewhere.