Dull though it may be, I can’t say that I was a particularly conflicted teenager. So my life-changing reaction to my first live Mahler symphony experience, although I was around 16, wasn’t to do with teenage angst. It was the Second Symphony, conducted by Andrew Litton with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and I was blown away. That’s the only way to describe what I felt by the time the all-consuming final bars shook the rather fragile (strangely pink-walled) Winter Gardens. My reaction was made all the stronger by the two aged ladies seated behind me, one of whom whispered after the first movement, “Anyone could have written that.” She obviously didn’t approve of this modern stuff. Mahler’s Ninth Symphony (the last he completed) was premiered in 1912 – 2010 marks the 150th anniversary of his birth – and yet his music does seem forever contemporary. In an age when even TV gangsters have gone in for psychoanalysis, Mahler’s manic-depressive (discuss) meditations tell us as much about ourselves as about him. That’s one view. It would take a discussion with many of the great musical minds of our age to start to capture all of the many aspects of Mahler. And that’s precisely what we’ve supplied in a very special issue that has taken some six months to coordinate. I asked the fine writer and Mahler obsessive Michael McManus to act as special project editor for our coverage. He managed to pin down no less than 11 of the great Mahler conductors of our day, working with them to secure revealing essays – with each asked to contribute their thoughts about a different Mahler symphony (including that magnificent symphony in all but name, Das Lied von der Erde). The roll-call is astounding – Mackerras, Jansons, Maazel, Zinman, Rattle, Eschenbach, Gergiev, Tilson Thomas, Salonen, Chailly and Nagano. The essays are truly fascinating, each as compelling as the last (who knew that the Seventh Symphony could scare even Valery Gergiev?). The only sad loss to our plans was Bernard Haitink, who explained that he feels unable to talk about Mahler, much as he adores conducting him. We entirely respect that, but are fortunate that his distinguished colleagues were not similarly rendered speechless. We will all doubtless hear much Mahler in this anniversary year. Thanks to these wonderful essays, we will have plenty to think about as well. james.inverne@haymarket.com