For Gustav Mahler’s birthday this week, we have Michael Tilson Thomas, director of the San Francisco Symphony … and the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, revisiting the profound impression Mahler’s music made on his own personal development. He recalls being introduced to Das Lied Von Der Erde when he was 13, and it marked an epiphanal dividing point in his life. There was life before Mahler, and a new life after. In this related clip, Leonard Bernstein, America’s great composer, offers a personal introduction to Das Lied Von Der Erde. You can find more interviews with renowned orchestra conductors here.
A big thanks to Zoran in Greece for sending these clips our way.
The David Zinman interview was also fascinating.