MUSIC

Conductor Zubin Mehta has denied the accusation of a demoted viola player in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra that he terrorizes musicians, the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reported Monday. “As to the claim that I plot or inflict terror on the musicians, making them afraid to speak--a musical director who frightens an orchestra cannot make music with it,” Mehta told Haaretz in a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home. Aryeh Yisraeli, 60, a viola player with the orchestra since he was 17, was demoted recently as section conductor. He accused Mehta in the Tel Aviv Labor Court of breaking the spirit of the orchestra and causing heart attacks in some musicians. Mehta, 50, said Yisraeli was removed as section conductor because his playing, concentration and ability to guide the section had lessened in recent years.