“I could understand Wozzeck better when I knew Mahler.”

Mr Boulez, do you remember the first time you heard the music of Mahler?

Boulez: I don’t think I remember. Yes, I suppose I remember. In France it was not performed at all when I was young. First during the war of course, but even after the war there was a very big gap between the Austrian musical culture and the French musical culture. Therefore I think the first time I heard Mahler, that was in France anyway – but I mean it was the 4th Symphony, and I remember the Schellen [sleigh-bells] at the beginning, because it was so unusual to hear this kind of noise, to begin a symphony especially, that it was surprising. And I mean that it was Kletzki, it was not a French conductor who conducted it, it was Paul Kletzki.

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The Concertgebouworkest is presenting Gustav Mahler’s symphonies 1-10 and Das Lied von der Erde in Amsterdam from 2009-2011. The list of conductors is a who’s who of contemporary masters, including Harding, Jansons, Boulez, Gatti and Haitink.

See the Concertgebouworkest’s Mahler pages.

“With Mahler – you have to give yourself”

Do you remember when you heard the music of Mahler for the first time?

Nott: Yes. I came to Mahler through singing actually. I was eight, singing in England, in the Cathedral in Worcester, and it was Mahler’s 8th and I was in the Knabenchor. And I must have sung some of this piece three or four times in the time I was a boy. And then as far as I remember, the first part was great. I was eight years old, no problem, but the second part goes on and on … But we were still singing.

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The Orchestre des Champs-Élysées is performing Mahler’s 4th Symphony on tour in March 2010. Concerts will take place in

Poitiers (F) TAP March 6th
Ravenna (IT) March 8th
Grenoble (F) MC2 March 11th
Bruxelles (B) Palais des Beaux-Arts March 14th
Rotterdam (NL) De Doelen March 16th

Philippe Herreweghe conducts. See the orchestra’s website nearer the date for more information.

The Konserthuset in Stockholm tells us of its forthcoming Mahler Festival in March 2010.

All symphonies are being performed in a row, by The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic as well as by guest orchestras from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Several of the song cycles will also be perfomed in chamber versions.

Download the Konserthuset’s Swedish Mahler Brochure
Mahler’s Universe in 12 Days

Use the historical search at the Konserthuset’s website to see the first Mahler performances in Stockholm.

“What Mahler did in Vienna is beyond human.”

Mr Welser-Möst, do you remember the first time you heard the music of Gustav Mahler?

Welser-Möst: Yes, I do. It was actually the Symphony No. 1 and must have been ten or eleven years old and it was the student orchestra of the Wiener Musikhochschule, at that time with Karl Österreicher. So that was quite some time ago.

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“For conductors Mahler seems to be to be the most personal composer”

Do you remember the first time you heard the music of Gustav Mahler?

Gatti: I began at nine, ten to study music. And of course the names of the composers who were familiar to me were Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Rossini, Verdi – Mahler was totally unknown to me. Then I heard my father say ‘Mahler, Mahler – there is a symphony of Mahler on the radio’. And I said ‘But who is this composer?’. He said ‘It’s fantastic music, listen!’ I didn’t want to listen. Then, growing up, at twelve, thirteen, almost every evening he brought home a (very cheap) record. It was the whole repertoire, from Mozart to Stravinsky; he just wanted to introduce me to the orchestral sound. I remember he bought the 1st Symphony conducted by Bruno Walter, and so the first time I listened to the music of Mahler was with my father in our sitting room – at least 20 minutes of the 1st Symphony. And there I was, listening, without any particular emotion at that moment, but it was important that subconsciously I was absorbing his style.

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“I started to conduct Mahler out of spite.”

Mr Barenboim, do you remember the first time you heard the music of Gustav Mahler?

Barenboim: No. I remember playing the songs on the piano with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau – this must be in the early ‘70s – The Wunderhorn-Songs, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Rückertlieder – all, except the Kindertotenlieder, because they were not originally written as a piano version. And the first Mahler Symphony I conducted was the 5th, in 1973. But I came – in my biography, as it were – quite late to Mahler. I started very young, also conducting, but I was not really into it until quite late, until I was over 30.

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Die Stadt Mailand hat gemeinsam mit der Provinz beschlossen, um rund 22 Millionen Euro 90.000 Bäume für Stardirigent Claudio Abbado zu pflanzen. Das war das ungewöhnliche Honorar, das Abbado im Dezember gefordert hatte, um nach 23 Jahren Abwesenheit an die Mailänder Scala zurückzukehren.

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Endless Mahler
Alex Ross in the New Yorker

It’s a Wrap! Mahler Marathon Finishes Glowingly
Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times

Mahler Symphonies at High Heat but Contrasting Temperatures
James R. Oestreich in the New York Times

Noch ein letztes Mal fortissimo!
Julia Spinola in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung