Mahler Trivia, Week Four
Two of Mahler’s major works — Das Lied von der Erde and the Ninth Symphony — premiered after his death. Which one of these men conducted these premieres?
Leopold Stokowski
Bruno Walter
Richard Strauss
Arturo Toscanini
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The short answer is Bruno Walter though the full answer is more nuanced.
Bruno Walter (1876-1962) was Mahler’s close friend and sometime assistant conductor. At Alma Mahler’s request, he conducted the premiere of Das Lied von der Erde in 1911 and the Ninth Symphony in 1912. He also recorded both pieces in Vienna before the Anschluss forced him to flee Austria. The Nazi banned Mahler’s music (and Mendelsohn’s as well) as “degenerate.”
Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) conducted the U.S. premiere of Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1916. Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was a proponent of Mahler’s. He had conducted Mahler’s symphonies before the Nazis banned them. Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) is not known to have conducted any of Mahler’s works. Indeed, the two men were rivals when both were engaged by New York’s Metropolitan Opera for the 1908-1909 season.
Mahler never finished orchestrating his Tenth Symphony. A version finally premiered in 1964 with the London Symphony Orchestra under Berthold Goldschmidt.