N.Y. Orchestra to Bypass Athens

The New York Philharmonic will not perform two scheduled concerts in Athens because of the potential danger at the airport cited by the State Department, the orchestra’s managing director said Saturday.

In a statement, Albert Webster said Monday and Tuesday’s performances in Athens’ Herodes Atticus Theater as part of the Athens Capital of European Culture Festival will be indefinitely postponed.

Alternate plans for the part of the European tour affected include an extra performance in the Royal Theater here Monday, where the orchestra performed Friday, Webster said. The orchestra is on a tour of 20 cities that began May 30 in London and is to end with a concert in Tel Aviv.

The orchestra’s musical director, Zubin Mehta, who led the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 16 years, said he was “personally very sorry that these concerts will not take place as I and my colleagues had looked forward eagerly to performing for the Greek people.”