“Mahler is my point of reference”

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

Metzmacher: Oh my God. No, I don’t. I think the first time I heard Mahler was when I was conducting it, or maybe just before. I did the Rückert-Lieder first you know: it was long ago and I was very young and it was with Margaret Price. Let me think – that’s probably not true. I think I heard Mahler earlier in the context of Ives, which I was always very interested in, because there’s this story that when Mahler came back from New York he had an Ives score in his suitcase and wanted to bring him to Europe, and then unfortunately he died. Because there are some connections between Ives and Mahler, and I think I first encountered the music of Mahler through Ives. I think so, and I think it was most probably the 1st Symphony

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