“Mahler was in control of losing control.”

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

Oramo: When I heard Gustav Mahler’s music for the first time – I have to confess that I can’t remember when it would have been. I went to concerts with my Dad quite often when I was little, and especially when my Mum was playing, she is a pianist. But Mahler’s music – I suppose it could have been when Igor Markevitch was conducting in Helsinki. And I seem to remember that my mother played Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto with him, and then there was Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. It could have been that.

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