Gustav Mahler’s Legacy

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Year 1911 (0) Gustav Mahler died this year. See: Year 1911.

Year 1912 (+1) Gustav Mahler died 1 year ago. 

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Year 1917 (+6)

  • Heinrich August Fischer (1827-1917) died.
  • 30-12-1917 Vienna: After Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951)‘s performance with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) from Das Lied von der Erde in Vienna the manuscripts were packed in a beautiful cassette and given by Alma Mahler in gratitude to the conductor. On the inside of the cover she wrote a flattering mission, “Dem Freunde Gustav Mahler, dem herrlichsten Interpreten seiner Musik, Willem Mengelberg’. Which indicates how closely Mengelberg came to Mahlers musical intentions. From all of Mahler’s work, Mengelberg had with Das Lied von der Erde the most intense band and he reached a definite highlight with his interpretations. See also: 22-03-2017.
  • Letter from Natalie Bauer-Lechner (1858-1921) about Mahler’s love life to Hans Riehl (1891-1965), Austrian economist, sociologist and art historian.

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  • 19-04-1936 Barcelona: First performance of Alban Berg (1885-1935) – Violin concerto ‘Dem Andenken eines Engels’ in memory of Manon Gropius (1916-1935) by the Russian-American violinist Louis Krasner.
  • Amsterdam: Commemorative concerts following the 25th anniversary of Mahler’s death. Small Mahler Festival. Performed were Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 4, Symphony No. 5 (Adagietto), Symphony No. 9 and Lieder Eines fahrenden Gesellen. Bruno Walter gave a lecture about Mahler. The two parts of Symphony No. 10 (Purgatorio and Adagio) were not on the program.

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  • Since Mahlers death in 1911 his works were (until WW II) 2,200 times performed. 900 times in Germany, 400 in The Netherlands, 300 in Austria etc.
  • Amsterdam: ‘Gustav Mahler. Erinnerungen und Briefe’ by Alma Mahler (1879-1964)

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  • 04-10-1950 until 21-10-1950 Oskar Fried (1871-1941) conducts Mahler cycle at Vienna Konzertverein (all symphonies except Symphony No. 8).

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  • In 1959 a manuscript of Symphony No. 1 was offered to Sotheby’s by John C. Perrin, who had got it from his mother, Jenny Feld (1866-1921).

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  • 00-00-1966 Symphony No. 10, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cooke I.
  • 00-00-1966 New Haven: A copyist’s manuscript of the 1893 Hamburg version of the Blumine manuscript is rediscovered by Donald Mitchell (1925-2017) at Yale university.

Year 1967 (+56)

Year 1968 (+57)

  • 19-04-1968 New Haven: The New Haven Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Frank Brieff, performed Titan with Blumine reinserted as its second movement.
  • 01-06-1968 London: Pianokwartet in a, Engelse premiere in de Purcell Room door het Nemet Ensemble.

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  • 00-00-1972 Wyn Morris, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Cooke I. Symphony No. 10.

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  • When Michael Tilson Thomas (1944) wanted to visit the grave of Mahler, the keeper of the cemetery had to look for it. The grave was not much visited at the time. Grinzing cemetery.

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  • 00-00-1983: Boy soprano premiere: 1983, Jamie Westman performed and recorded the 4th symfonie with Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Westman performed the symfonie extensively throughout Europe in 1984. Gustav Mahler’s granddaughter Marina Fistoulari Mahler (1943) attended one of his performances at the Musikverein in Wenen. Symphony No. 4.

Year 1984 (+73)

  • Publication of a more extensive edition of the ‘Erinnerungen an Gustav Mahler’ by Natalie Bauer-Lechner (1858-1921). Publication by Herbert Killian (1926-2017), the son of Johann Killian (1879-1959, Natalie’s second cousin). See also 1923.

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  • Mahler Festival London 1985.

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  • Mahler Festival Paris 1989.
  • 07-07-1989 Kassel: Mahler Festival 1989 Kassel.

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  • 00-05-2002 Jerusalem: The original score of Symphony No. 1 was discovered in Jerusalem, among the personal effects of an old student of Viennese music: this score had annotations by Gustav Mahler himself.

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Year 2010. Gustav Mahler born 150 years ago.

Year 2011. Gustav Mahler born 151 years ago

Year 2012. Gustav Mahler born 152 years ago

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Year 2013. Gustav Mahler born 153 years ago

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Year 2014. Gustav Mahler born 154 years ago

  • 20-01-2014 Bologna: Claudio Abbado (1933-2014) died.
  • 22-04-2014 Amsterdam: Op 22 april 2014 maakt Mariss Jansons (1943), chef-dirigent van het Concertgebouworkest te Amsterdam, bekend dat hij na het seizoen 2014-2015 om gezondheidsredenen stopt bij het Concertgebouworkest. Hij is dan 71 jaar. Jansons is op 14-01-1943 geboren in Riga, Letland. Jansons, in december benoemd tot Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, begon in 1988 bij het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest. In 2004 begon hij als zesde chef in de geschiedenis van het Concertgebouworkest. Onder zijn chef-dirigentschap werd het orkest onder meer uitgeroepen tot “the world’s greatest orchestra” en werden verschillende cd’s en dvd’s bekroond met prijzen. De zoon van een operazangeres en een dirigent groeide op in Sint-Petersburg, waar hij viool en directie studeerde. Hij leidde diverse grote orkesten en gaf wereldwijd vele concerten. Daarvoor ontving hij meerdere prestigieuze onderscheidingen, zoals de Ernst von Siemens Muziekprijs en het Duitse Bundesverdientskreuz. Jansons is ook chef-dirigent van het orkest van de Bayerische Rundfunk in Munchen.
  • 06-05-2014 Amsterdam: Announcement Mahler Festival 2020 Amsterdam.
  • 13-07-2014 Castleton: Lorin Maazel (1930-2014) died.
  • 24-09-2014 Cambridge: Christopher Hogwood (1941-2014) died.
  • 03-10-2014 Amsterdam: Daniele Gatti (1961) appointed chief conductor of the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO/KCO).

Year 2015. Gustav Mahler born 155 years ago

  • 05-12-2015 Vienna: In an insert to the programme book of a pair of Vienna concerts that he was forced to cancel through illness, Nikolaus Harnoncourt has announced that he is stepping down as head of the Concentus Musicus and will not appear again on the concert stage. Harnoncourt, who turns 86 tomorrow (Dec 6), played cello in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra while forming his own period-instrument ensemble. He became one of the most recorded early-music conductors, branching out to direct major symphony orchestras in 19th and 20th century repertoire, all the way down to Gershwin. A devout Catholic and devoted husband to Alice, he fostered a family feeling among players, a sense f unity rare in the often disputatious world of period practice. His recorded legacy will stand forever. Honorair guest conductor Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO/KCO) in Amsterdam.
  • 18-12-2015 Huizen: Aafje Heynis died (1924-2015). Dutch alto, aged 91. Heynis, 02-05-1924 Krommenie – 18-12-2015 Huizen, was singing at a young age in a children’s choir. A conductor of a choral society in Krommenie ordered her on her seventeenth to singing teacher Jo Immink in Amsterdam. She got from 1946 to 1949 professional singing lessons from Aaltje Noordewier-Reddingius (1868-1949) and became a celebrated concert singer, thanks to the support of the soprano Jo Vincent, the choir director Anthon van der Horst and bass Laurens Bogtman, who early heared her exceptional talent. A performance of Brahms’ Alt rhapsodie with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO/KCO) under Eduard van Beinum (1900-1959) earned her rave reviews. Her voice has been compared to that of the famous British contralto Kathleen Ferrier, but both singers still had their own style. From the mid fifties Heynis performed at home and abroad. She was known as an excellent interpreter of Brahms, Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Mahler. Heynis worked with renowned conductors including Van Beinum, Bernard Haitink (1929), Otto Klemperer, Charles Munch and Wolfgang Sawallisch. She also gave singing lessons. Her last performance she gave on 19-12-1983, after which she decided to stop abruptly. Earlier, she had said: “. I stop singing when I’m on the top of the mountain, On the descent will not be publicly available.” Thus she made the same choice as before Jo Vincent, who also had stopped at the height of her career. As a singing teacher Aafje Heynis trained many students (including Margiono). She is considered one of the greatest Dutch singers.
  • 19-12-2015 Greenwich: Kurt Masur (1927-2015) died. The music director emeritus of the New York Philharmonic, who was credited with transforming the orchestra from a sullen, lackluster ensemble into one of luminous renown, died on Saturday in Greenwich, Conn. He was 88. The death, from complications of Parkinson’s disease, was announced by the New York Philharmonic, which said it would dedicate its Saturday night performance of Handel’s “Messiah” to Mr. Masur’s memory.Mr. Masur was the Philharmonic’s music director from 1991 to 2002. When he took its helm, the orchestra was roundly considered to be a world-class ensemble in name only, its playing grown slipshod, its players fractious and discontented, its recording contracts unrenewed. His immediate predecessors — Pierre Boulez, with his cool, cerebral approach and focus on contemporary works, and Zubin Mehta, seen as purveying flash and dazzle at the expense of deep musical meaning — were held more than partly responsible for the artistic decline that had followed the epochal reign of Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), the Philharmonic’s music director from 1958 to 1969.

Year 2016. Gustav Mahler born 156 years ago

  • 01-01-2016 New York: Gilbert Kaplan (1941-2016) died. Kaplan, who amassed a fortune on Wall Street that enabled him to fulfill his fantasy of becoming an orchestral conductor, confining himself to a single work, Mahler’s Second Symphony, but stunning a skeptical musical world with his command of the daunting score, died Jan. 1 in New York City.
  • 05-01-2016 Baden-Baden: Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) died, the French composer and conductor who was a dominant figure in classical music for over half a century, died on Tuesday at his home in Baden-Baden, Germany. He was 90. His death was confirmed by his family in a statement to the Philharmonie de Paris. “Audacity, innovation, creativity — that is what Pierre Boulez was for French music, which he helped shine everywhere in the world,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement. Mr. Boulez belonged to an extraordinary generation of European composers who, while still in their 20s, came to the forefront during the decade or so after World War II. They wanted to change music radically, and Mr. Boulez took a leading role. His “Marteau Sans Maître” (“Hammer Without a Master”) was one of this group’s first major achievements, and it remains a central work of modern music. In the early 1990s, he began to appear more widely again as a conductor, with orchestras in the United States (Los Angeles, Cleveland, Chicago) and Europe. (The concerts were often associated with recording sessions for Deutsche Grammophon.) He returned to what had always been his main repertoire, while also developing enthusiasm for Mahler and making occasional visits to territory he had not touched before: Richard Strauss, Bruckner, Scriabin, Janacek. At his death, he was the conductor emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
  • 26-01-2016 Amsterdam: Starting in August 2016, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO/KCO) will visit all 28 member states of the European Union in the course of two and a half seasons as part of the RCO meets Europe concert tour. In repertoire, in spirit and in practice this tour will serve to highlight the fundamental ideas and ideals that can hold Europe together.
  • 27-01-2016 New York: The New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO/NPO) announced that Jaap van Zweden (1960) will formally take over the orchestra’s music directorship in 2018, after appointing him Music Director Designate in the 2017-2018 season.
  • 11-02-2016 Birmingham: When it comes to discovering conducting talent, few ensembles boast a track record like that of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England. It has been a springboard for the careers of Simon Rattle, the chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, and Andris Nelsons, the music director of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. So the announcement on Thursday that the orchestra has chosen the rising Lithuanian conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, 29, as its next music director is sure to attract attention in the music world.
  • 13-02-2016 Amsterdam: Jaap van Zweden (1960) announces on Dutch television the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO/NPO) wil perform on a large open air festival in Amsterdam. Date not yet known. He also confirms that he and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO/NPO) will be part of the Gustav Mahler Festival Amsterdam 2020.
  • 21-02-2016 London: Announcement: Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.8 (Symphony of a Thousand). Multiple choirs, world-class soloists and a super-sized orchestra team up for a performance of Mahler’s epic Eighth Symphony. With all-star cast: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski conductor, Melanie Diener soprano, Anne Schwanewilms soprano, Sofia Fomina soprano, Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano, Anna Larsson contralto, Torsten Kerl tenor, Matthias Goerne baritone, Matthew Rose bass, London Philharmonic Choir and Tiffin Boys’ Choir. 08-04-2017 in the Royal Festival Hall, London.
  • 05-03-2016: Sankt Georgen im Attergau: Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929-2016) died. A pioneering and influential early-music specialist and respected mainstream maestro, died on in the village of St. Georgen in Attergau, west of Salzburg. He was 86. Title conductor Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO/KCO).
  • 03-06-2016 New York: New York Metropolitan Opera (MET) has announced that Yannick Nézet-Séguin (1975) is to be the company’s new music director. The 41-year-old French-Canadian conductor succeeds James Levine, who held the position for 40 years but retires at the end of this current season. Nézet-Séguin will not take up his position officially until the 2020-21 season due to existing commitments. During the interim period, Nézet-Séguin assumes the title music director designate and will conduct two operas a season, although he will be involved from the outset in the company’s artistic planning. Levine will be music director emeritus.
  • 12-07-2016 London: On 29-11-2016 the original 232-page manuscript of Symphony No. 2, notated in Mahler’s own hand between 1888 and 1894 during breaks from his day job as a conductor, will be sold by Sotheby’s in London. The first ever autograph of a complete symphony by the composer to appear at auction, it is expected to raise £3.5m to £4.5m, the most for a music manuscript since nine Mozart symphonies sold for £2.5m in 1987. Manuscript Symphony No. 2.
  • 23-08-2016 Amsterdam: Key transfer RCO House. Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) House.
  • 23-08-2016 Rotterdam: The 27-year-old Israeli Lahav Shani (1989)is the new chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018. He succeeds Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Until three years ago Shani was an unknown beginner. But after winning the International Gustav Mahler Conductor Competition he debuted with success in one after another top orchestra. Last June was Rotterdam’s turn. “At the break of the first rehearsal I immediately called my fiancée,” he says. “The chemistry was so special … I said,” I sincerely hope that they ask me as their boss – and that happened. ” What was not likely yet happened: after the first series of concerts the orchestra members selected Shani, after reportedly unanimously, their new chief conductor.
  • 02-10-2016 London: Sir Neville Marriner (1924-2016) died. Marriner was born in Lincoln, England, and studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He played the violin in the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Martin String Quartet and London Symphony Orchestra, playing with the last two for 13 years. He later formed the Jacobean Ensemble with Thurston Dart before going to Hancock, Maine, in the United States to study conducting with Pierre Monteux at his school there. In 1958, he founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra and recorded copiously with them. Marriner was the first music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, from 1969 to 1978. From 1979 to 1986, he was music director of the Minnesota Orchestra. He was principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1989. Marriner recorded for various labels, including Argo, L’Oiseau Lyre, Philips and EMI Classics. His recorded repertoire ranges from the baroque erato 20th century British music, as well as opera. Among his recordings are two CDs of British music for Philips Classics with Julian Lloyd Webber, including acclaimed performances of Benjamin Britten’s Cello Symphony and Sir William Walton’s Cello Concerto. Marriner also supervised the Mozart selections for the soundtrack of the 1984 film Amadeus. He was chairman of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra until 1992, when he was succeeded by Malcolm Latchem. Marriner held the title of Life President. He was the father of the clarinettist Andrew Marriner, principal clarinet of the London Symphony Orchestra.
  • 06-11-2016 Budapest: Zoltán Kocsis (1952-2016) died. He was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist, conductor, and composer. Born in Budapest, he began his musical studies at the age of five and continued them at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 1963, studying piano and composition. In 1968 he was admitted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he was a pupil of Pál Kadosa, Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág, graduating in 1973. He won the Hungarian Radio Beethoven Competition in 1970, and made his first concert tour of the United States in the following year. He received the Liszt Prize in 1973, and the Kossuth Prize in 1978. Considered as a great pianist, Kocsis performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Philharmonia of London, and the Vienna Philharmonic. He recorded the complete solo piano works and works with piano and orchestra of Béla Bartók. In 1990, his recording of Debussy’s Images won “The Gramophone” Instrumental Award for that year. He won another in 2013 in the chamber category with Bartók works. American critic Harold C. Schonberg praised Kocsis’ technique and piano tone. Kocsis co-founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1983. He was the musical director of the Hungarian National Philharmonic. Kocsis died aged 64 in his native Budapest.
  • 10-11-2016 Gstaad: The Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden (1960), who has been announced as new music director of the New York Philharmonic effective 2018, will be heading the Gstaad Conducting Academy and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra in Gstaad as of 2017. By engaging the star conductor Jaap van Zweden, Gstaad Menuhin Festival raises its latest projects – Gstaad Conducting Academy, which is unique in Europe – to another level.  Since the unmatched top education project for junior conductors was launched in 2014 with conductor Neeme Järvi, it has taken place three times. 55-year-old van Zweden will head the Conducting Academy and conduct 2 to 3 programs a year with the Gstaad Festival Orchestra.  Performances at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival have already been scheduled for August 2017.  At the same time, he will head, together with guest professors, the public workshops for the conducting students that take place within the scope of Gstaad Academy.
  • 28-11-2016 Amsterdam: Bernard Haitink gets the Dutch Classical Edison Oeuvre Award 2016.
  • 29-11-2016 London: Auction Manuscript Symphony No. 2. Sold for 4,546,250 GBP, 5,360,043 EUR, 5.600.000 USD. The winning bidder chose to remain anonymous. Sotheby’s.
  • 26-10-2016 Tel Aviv: Zubin Metha (aged 80), chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), announces that he will retire in October 2019. He started there in 1977. The India-born conductor also led the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO/NPO).

Year 2017. Gustav Mahler born 157 years ago

  • 04-01-2017 Naves (France): Georges Prêtre (1924-2017) died. French orchestral and opera conductor. Aged 92.
  • 11-01-2017 Hamburg: Opening Elbphilharmonie. Ludwig van Beethoven – Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus.
  • 27-01-2017 Lonay (Switzerland):  Henry-Louis de La Grange (1924-2017) died. Aged 92.
  • 09-02-2017 Vancouver: Otto Tausk (1970) appointed Music Director at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO).
  • 31-05-2017 Prague: Ji?í B?lohlávek (1946-2017) died. Ji?í B?lohlávek CBE was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two different occasions during a combined span of seven years (1990-1992, 2012-2017). He also served a six-year tenure as the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2012. He gained international renown and repute for his performances of the works of Czech composers such as Antonín Dvo?ák and Bohuslav Martin?, and was credited as “the most profound proponent of Czech orchestral music” by Czech music specialist Professor Michael Beckerman.
  • 02-06-2017 Bergamo: Jeffrey Tate (1943-2017) died. Sir Jeffrey Philip Tate CBE was born in Salisbury, England, with spina bifida, and also had kyphosis. His family moved to Farnham, Surrey, when he was young and he attended Farnham Grammar School between 1954 and 1961, gaining a State Scholarship to Cambridge University, where he directed theatre productions. Tate initially read medicine at Christ’s College, Cambridge (1961–64), specializing in eye surgery.He later worked at St Thomas’s Hospital, London, before giving up his clinical career to study music at the London Opera Centre. He became a repetiteur and a coach at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, under the tutelage of Sir Georg Solti. Tate’s international conducting début was with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1979. In 1985, he was appointed the first principal conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra, and in September 1986 became principal conductor of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the first person in the House’s history to have that title. He was principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from 1991 to 1995, and in 2005 was appointed music director of the San Carlo Theatre of Naples, remaining in the post until 2010.
  • 28-09-2017 London: Donald Mitchell (1925-2017) died (Mahler biographer).
  • 05-10-2017 Maastricht (The Netherlands): First performance of the Kindertotenlieder by a children’s choir (Maîtrise des Bouches du Rhône from France). See History Kindertotenlieder.

Year 2018. Gustav Mahler born 158 years ago

  • 12-03-2018 New York: The New York Metropolitan Opera (MET) fired the conductor James Levine, ending its association with a man who defined the company for more than four decades after an investigation found what the Met called credible evidence that Mr. Levine had engaged in “sexually abusive and harassing conduct.” The investigation, which the Met opened in December after a report in The New York Times, found evidence of abuse and harassment “both before and during the period” when Mr. Levine worked at the Met, the company said in a statement. It was an extraordinary fall from grace for a legendary maestro, whom many consider the greatest American conductor since Leonard Bernstein. The Met did not release the specific findings of its investigation, which it said had included interviews with 70 people. But the statement said that the investigation had “uncovered credible evidence that Mr. Levine engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct toward vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers, over whom Mr. Levine had authority.” It said that it was terminating its relationship with Mr. Levine, who is currently the company’s music director emeritus and the artistic director of its young artists program. “In light of these findings,” the statement continued, “the Met concludes that it would be inappropriate and impossible for Mr. Levine to continue to work at the Met.”
  • 25-03-2018: Letter by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) to Thomas Mann (1875-1955) discovered.
  • 02-05-2018 Tilburg: Dutch violinist Herman Krebbers (1933-2018) died. The Dutch Paganini. Herman Krebbers served as concertmaster of the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) from 1962 to 1980, during Bernard Haitink (1929)’s years as chief conductor. He was also a soloist of great international renown, in addition to being an extremely passionate teacher, one who served as an example to generations of musicians. Many of Herman Krebbers’ students went on to become members of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. His former students also include Vera Beths, Liza Ferschtman, André Rieu, Emmy Verhey, Saskia Viersen and Frank Peter Zimmerman. Krebbers was born in the Dutch city of Hengelo on 18-06-1923 and gave his first solo concert in Ede in 1933. He studied with Oskar Back (1879 Vienna – 1963 Anderlecht), and from a  very young age performed as a soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The prodigy Krebbers debuted in 1936 at the age of 13 with the violin concerto of Brahms in the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw. The Concertgebouw Orchestra was then led by chief conductor Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951). In 1943 the 19-year-old violinist debuted with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and eventually became the Orchestra’s Concertmaster in 1962. In parallel he led a career as a soloist and a chamber musician. A musical friendship developed between Krebbers and fellow violinist Theo Olof (1924-2012), whom he had met through Back, and the two gave frequent  performances as a duo. In 1950, they were jointly appointed principal violinist of the Residentie Orchestra and, in 1958, were both made Knights in  the Order of Orange-Nassau. Both studied with the Hungarian-Dutch violinist and music teacher Oscar Back, both were concertmaster at both the Residentie Orkest in The Hague and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. As musicians, the differences were small – their background was very different. The Jewish Olof fled to the Netherlands for the Nazis, where he had to go into hiding during the war. Krebbers became a member of the Dutch Kultuurkamer during the occupation and continued to play during the war. Also under the direction of conductor Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951) who collaborated too much with the occupier. Where Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951) was never allowed to conduct in the Netherlands, Krebbers was forced to ban a 2-year ban after the war. In 1962, Krebbers was appointed principal violinist of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, with Olof again sharing the post with him from 1974. Krebbers also taught at the Amsterdam Muzieklyceum (now the Conservatorium van Amsterdam) for nearly half a century and remained an active chamber musician. An unfortunate fall nearly ended his career in 1979. After many years of therapy, he would eventually go on to perform again, although he focused mainly on teaching and adjudicating.
  • 08-05-2018 Hilversum: Karina Canellakis (1982) appointed chief conductor of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Radio Filharmonisch Orkest) in the Netherlands. Starting in the summer of 2019 for four years. She succeeds Markus Stenz,  Bernard Haitink (1929) and Jaap van Zweden (1960). At the moment she is with Jaap van Zweden with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO). Debut in the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw at 13-10-2019.
  • 08-06-2018 Amsterdam: “The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is relieved to inform you that their honorary conductor  Bernard Haitink (1929) is doing fine, under present circumstances. After this concert’s ovation he unfortunately fell on stage. He now is recovering from the incident in his hotel. Thanks for everybody’s concern!” Bernard Haitink (89) conduced Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 with the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) in the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw.
  • 10-06-2018 Amsterdam: Kerem Hasan (1992) replaced Bernard Haitink (1929) in Gustav Mahler’ s Symphony No. 9 after Haitink fell on stage in the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw at 08-06-2018. Kerem Hasan is assistent conductor of Bernard Haitink and was involved in the rehearsel process that week.
  • 16-06-2018 Moscow: Gennady Rozhdestvensky (1931-2018) died.
  • 02-08-2018 Amsterdam: Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) terminates cooperation with chief conductor Daniele Gatti (1961). Dear Sir, Madam, We attach great value to inform you that the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) has terminated the cooperation with chief conductor Daniele Gatti with immediate effect. On 26 July, the Washington Post published an article in which Gatti was accused of inappropriate behavior. These accusations and Gatti’s reactions with this respect have caused a lot of commotion among both musicians and staff, as well as stakeholders both at home and abroad. Besides this, since the publication of the article in the Washington Post, a number of female colleagues of the Concertgebouw Orchestra reported experiences with Gatti, which are inappropriate considering his position as chief conductor. This has irreparably damaged the relationship of trust between the orchestra and the chief conductor. All concerts scheduled with Daniele Gatti will proceed with other conductors. Kind regards, Jan Raes – managing director Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
  • 11-08-2018 Amsterdam: For the season 2018-2019 the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) has replaced Daniele Gatti (1961) by Bernard Haitink (1929), Philippe Herreweghe (1947), Manfred Honeck (1958), Thomas Hengelbrock (1958), Michael Sanderling (1967), Dima Slobodeniouk (1975) and Kerem Hasan (1992).
  • 18-09-2018 Amsterdam: There will be a revised version of the first volume (1860-1897) of Henry-Louis de La Grange (1924-2017). Sybille Werner worked on it with Henry-Louis, and he authorized her to complete it after his death.
  • 20-09-2018 New York: Start of Jaap van Zweden (1960) as new leader of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO/NPO).
  • 13-10-2018 Amsterdam: Gustav Mahler’s most beloved works in the Netherlands according to a survey in 2018 (Hart & Ziel Lijst 2018 by NPO Radio 4):
    1. Symphony No. 5
    2. Symphony No. 2
    3. Symphony No. 4
    4. Symphony No. 1
    5. Das Lied von der Erde
    6. Kindertotenlieder
    7. Ruckert-Lieder
    8. Symphony No. 3
    9. Symphony No. 9
    10. Symphony No. 8
  • 06-11-2018 Amsterdam: Start of the RCO Young. Creation of an international youth orchestra for talented young people between 14 and 17 years. The initiative includes a summer camp with an intensive program of rehearsals, coaching sessions, workshops and lessons from professionals. RCO Young is not only about talent development, but also about stimulating diversity in the orchestras and the connection with the society. The period ends with concerts in Brussels and Amsterdam. Start in 08-2019 in Ede, the Netherlands.
  • 15-11-2018 Film maker Jason Starr is currently working on a new film about Mahler’s Lieder lines fahrenden Gesellen and the First Symphony. Mr. Starr has previously released films on the Second Symphony, Third Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde.
  • 24-11-2018 Zagreb: The Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) completed its ambitious tour project ‘RCO meets Europe’ with a concert in Zagreb (Croatia). Since August 2016, the orchestra has performed in all 28 member states of the European Union. In each country an opening work was carried out together with a youth orchestra from the country concerned (Side by Side).
  • 27-11-2018 A novel about Hans Rott (1858-1884) is planned to be published at the end of Februari 2019. Called “Wie man ein Geni tötet” (How to kill a genius). Author Ingvar Hellsing Lundqvist. Roman. German.
  • 05-12-2018 Rome: Daniele Gatti (1961) appointed as musical director of the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. Later this season he will lead the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (LGO)i and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO).
  • 09-12-2018 Author, biographer and documentary film maker Cate Haste is working on a new book about Alma Mahler.

Year 2019. Gustav Mahler born 159 years ago

  • 11-01-2019: Release CD and DVD ‘Selected Compositions’ Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951) on Attacca. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): ‘I am convinced that what you make, can not be bad’.
  • 19-01-2019 Amsterdam: Opening Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) House (called ‘RCO House’ ) by mayor Halsema of Amsterdam.
  • 28-02-2016: André Previn (1929-2019) died.
  • 28-02-2019: Photo of Alois (Louis) Mahler (1867-1931) found.
  • 02-03-2019: Excerpt from the Register of births of Gustav Mahler and Alma Mahler found. See 1860-1860 House Gustav Mahler Kaliste – House No. 9 (Birthplace) and House Emil Schindler Vienna (Birthplace Alma Mahler).
  • 08-03-2019: Michael Gielen (1927-2019) died.
  • 09-03-2019 Paris: The Médiathèque Musicale Mahler (MMM) temporarily closes to the public, in anticipation of a vast campaign entrusted to the architect Loïc Julienne – Atelier Construire. The project – scheduled to last until spring 2020, with a reopening before the summer – will provide renovated and expanded conservation and consulting spaces, as well as completely redesigned mediation, meeting and practice sites. As of April 15, 2019, the collections will be temporarily transferred to the IMEC (Memory Institute of Contemporary Publishing), located near Caen (14). Certain archives will remain accessible on the site of the abbey of Ardenne according to modalities to be specified.
  • 15-03-2019 Wiesbaden: In the context of the 300th anniversary of music publisher Breitkopf & Hartel, all symphonies of Gustav Mahler are published. Gustav Mahler once tried in vain to offer his music to Breitkopf & Hartel in Leipzig (by mail). 130 years later, the publishing company is going to repair that historic estimation error with the large-scale project ‘Gustav Mahler – The Symphonies’. All scores, editions, manuscripts, letters and scientific publications from and about Mahler’s ten symphonies, Blumine and Das Lied von der Erde are reviewed, studied, revised, introduced and commented on. And will be publshed in a new layout in large format.
  • 14-04-2019: The Mahler Foundation is currently setting up a digital archive that can be accessed by everyone via the internet: the Mahler Foundation Archive (MFA). The archive will include previously unpublished photos from the Mahler Family album. Various international archives and societys will deliver content. All photos are published in high resolution. Work is currently being done on the technical infrastructure. The content from www.mahlerfoundation.org will also become part of the MFA. The starting date of the MFA is expected in the beginning of 2020.
  • 24-04-2019 Amsterdam: Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) settles the quarrel with dismissed conductor Daniele Gatti (1961).
  • 25-04-2019 Amsterdam: Lorenzo Viotti (1990) appointed as the new chief of the Dutch Philharmonic and the National Opera (of the Netherlands).
  • 08-05-2019 Amsterdam: In exactly one year to the opening of the MAHLER FESTIVAL 2020 AMSTERDAM.
  • 24-05-2019 Amsterdam: All content of the website mahlerfoundation.org has been migrated to the website of the Mahler Foundation.
  • 31-05-2019 Amsterdam: Announced that Jan Raes (1959) will stop at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) at the end of 2019. This may be due to the settlement of the conflict in 2018 with Daniele Gatti (1961).
  • 12-06-2019 London: Bernard Haitink (1929), 27 years chief of the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO), puts an end to his career after 65 years. His last performance in Amsterdam (Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) – Symphony No. 7) is on 15-06-2019 in the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw with the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO). It will be his 1510th concert with the RCO since his debut in 1956. On 06-09-2019, in Lucern, Switzerland, he conducts for the last time. Bernard Haitink (1929) is 90 years old.
  • 23-08-2019 Berlin: Debut Kirill Petrenko (1972) with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO).
  • 06-09-2019 Lucern: Last concert conducted by Bernard Haitink (1929). Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) – Symphony No. 7, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO), Kultur- und Kongresszentrum, Lucern. Recorded by the BBC. Lucern is the town where Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951), Haitink’s predecessor at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO), started his musical career and where he is buried.
  • 30-09-2019 New York: Jessye Norman (1945-2019), the majestic American soprano who brought a sumptuous, shimmering voice to a broad range of roles at the Metropolitan Opera and houses around the world, died in New York. She was 74. Ms. Norman, who also found acclaim as a recitalist and on the concert stage, was one of the most decorated of American singers. She won five Grammy Awards, four for her recordings and one for lifetime achievement. She received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in 1997 and the National Medal of Arts in 2009.
  • 01-10-2019 Mainz: Symphony No. 10 – Adagio and Purgatorio, score edition of Wllem Mengelberg’s performing version (1924) published by the Schott publishing house in Mainz.
  • 12-10-2019 Amsterdam: Gustav Mahler’s most beloved works in the Netherlands according to a survey in 2019 (Hart & Ziel Lijst 2019 by NPO Radio 4):
    1. Symphony No. 5
    2. Symphony No. 2
    3. Symphony No. 4
    4. Kindertotenlieder
    5. Das Lied von der Erde
    6. Symphony No. 3
    7. Symphony No. 9
    8. Ruckert-Lieder
    9. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
    10. Symphony No. 8
  • 30-11-2019 St Petersburg: Mariss Jansons (1943-2019) died.
  • 11-12-2019 Vienna: Titan, the early, five-movement version of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, has never been published before. Universal Edition is proud to make this score available for the first time in connection with the Complete New Critical Edition. Mahler composed the work at the beginning of 1888 in Leipzig. In 1889 it was subsequently premiered as a ‘symphonic poem’ in Budapest. This edition of the New Study Score Series contains a detailed preface and sources in German, English and French.
  • 13-12-2019 Hong Kong: Symphony No. 10 – Adagio and Purgatorio. Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden (1960). First performance since 1924 of Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951)/Cornelis Dopper (1870-1939) performing version. Cultural Centre Concert Hall, World Premiere (Revision).

Year 2020. Gustav Mahler born 160 years ago

  • 08-01-2020 Amsterdam: Symphony No. 10 – Adagio and Purgatorio. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden. First performance since 1924 of Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951)/Cornelis Dopper (1870-1939) performing version.
  • 09-02-2020 Amsterdam: Symphony No. 10 – Adagio. Igor Levit (piano). The Adagio played in an arrangement for piano solo by the Scottish pianist and composer Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015). It seems an impossible task to play the cluster cords of the stacked thirds with two hands.
  • 14-02-2020 Amsterdam: Reinbert de Leeuw (1938-2020) died. Dutch conductor, pianist and composer. He was a promotor of Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), György Ligeti (1923-2006), Galina Oestvolskaja (1919-2006), Pierre Boulez (1925-2016), György Kurtag (1926), Louis Andriessen (1939), Claude Vivier (1948-1983) and Steve Reich (1936). In 1969 one of the initiators of the action Nutcracker (in Dutch ‘Notenkraker’, ‘Noten’ means ‘Notes’). Right after the start of a performance of a Flute concert by Johann Quantz (1697-1773) the concert was disturbed by angry composers and their supporters. Sound was made with rattles and whistles. Pamphlets were scattered down from the balconies and distributed on stage. The composers wanted Bruno Maderna (1920-1973) to be appointed as a permanent conductor alongside Bernard Haitink (1929) for the more ‘modern’ repertoire. Modern music was played then more than now (2020) … The composers were later blamed for not having an eye for orchestra musicians, who had to contend with cuts. Location was the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO), conductor Bernard Haitink. Bernard Haitink stopped the concert. After a discussion between supporters and opponents, the troublemakers were removed. Second on the program was Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) – Symphony No. 7. According to Bernard Haitink is would have made much more sense to disturb during the Gustav Mahler performance. Other initiators were Peter Schat (1935-2003), Misha Mengelberg (1935-2017, grand-nephew of conductor Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951)) and Louis Andriessen (1939). This action was a copy of one with Het Brabant Orkest, a few months earlier in Tilburg, where a concert led by Hein Jordans (1914-2003) was disrupted. Reinbert de Leeuw was the founder of the Schoenberg Ensemble (1974) and famous for his (slow) Erik Satie recordings (1976). He recorded ‘Lied in der Nacht’ from Alma Mahler (1879-1964) with Barbara Hannigan (1971) in 2018.
  • 25-03-2020 Amsterdam: Mahler Festival 2020 Amsterdam. Canceled due to pandemic coronavirus.
  • 08-05-2020 Amsterdam: Mahler Festival 2020 Amsterdam Online.
  • 18-05-2020 Online: First ‘Mahler Hour’: Mahler Around the World. Mahler societies, institutions, and organizations around the world in one online meeting. In this first meeting, 19 societies presented themselves. Participants came from Austria, Mexico, Singapore, USA, Germany, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan, Italy, Chile, Canada, Sri Lanka, England and France. Special guests: Marina Mahler, Thomas Hampson, Kahchun Wong and Marian van der Meer (Concertgebouw). The Mahler Foundation will organize more ‘Mahler Hours’. Map of the Societies.
  • 20-05-2020 Amsterdam: Mahler Festival 2021 Amsterdam announced.
  • 07-07-2020 Kaliste: 160th Anniversary Gustav Mahler. Second ‘Mahler Hour’.

Year 2021. Gustav Mahler born 161 years ago

  • 18-05-2021 Amsterdam: Mahler Festival 2021 Amsterdam. 18-05-2021 until 23-05-2021.

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Related posts:

  1. Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951)
  2. Mahler Festival 1920 Amsterdam
  3. Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw
  4. Mahler Festival 1995 Amsterdam
  5. Gustav Mahler himself in The Netherlands (1903, 1904, 1906, 1909 and 1910)
  6. Hendrik (Han Henri) de Booy (1867-1964)

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