“Mahler came out of nowhere and what he wrote was shocking.”

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

Maazel: The first time I conducted a movement of a Gustav Mahler Symphony was in Tanglewood. I was a young conductor – I was 20, I think – and I conducted the first movement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, and that was my first contact with his music.

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The Guardian introduces the Southbank Centre’s Mahler series for the coming season, including a complete cycle of the symphonies conducted by Lorin Maazel with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Southbank Centre embarks on major celebration for Mahler centenary
Charlotte Higgins – The Guardian

Flawed, sentimental and banal – all reasons we love Mahler
Ivan Hewett – Daily Telegraph, 18.02.2010

“The first time I heard Mahler, it was like I was in heaven.”

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

Jansons: I can’t remember the year exactly. I am not so young anymore that I can remember so many years ago [laughs]. I think it was approximately the end of the 50s or the beginning of the 60s, something like that, so I was probably around 16-18 years old. It’s hard to say exactly because I heard so much music growing up with music in a family of musicians, and I attended so many concerts and operas with my father, that it is very difficult for me now to remember which composer, and which piece, I heard at which time.

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