Gustav Mahler was a Tragic Hipster

This morning I was lying in bed listening to classical music streaming from the good ol US of A. I was dreamily going in and out of sleep while Debussy's "Reflections in the Water" played. I felt like a classical music nerd because I was excited that two of my favorite pieces were played in a row. (Get out! Debussy AND Vivaldi! What great luck I have!) The next piece to be played was from Lehar's "The Merry Widow". The DJ shared this little story right before he played the tune:

"One evening Gustav Mahler and his wife Alma went to see Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow and were surprisingly enthralled. They later danced to its tunes and played the waltz from memory but could not remember one particularly inspiring passage. The following day, they visited Döblinger's music shop, but found themselves unable to admit that they were interested in such a low-brow composition. So, while Mahler distracted the staff with questions about the sales of his music, Alma perused the score of The Merry Widow and memorized the forgotten sections."    

This little story struck a chord with me - no pun intended. It reminded me of so many people I have met in my life that are in one way or another "too cool for school". I guess "The Merry Widow" was Mahler's "Secret Shame". I hate the notion of secret shame - grow a pair and like what you like no matter what anybody says. I have a feeling that if Mahler was around today he would be cruising SxSW commenting on how lame all the bands were while sporting a T-shirt that says something like, "Your Blog is Fucking Boring". And I also bet if you picked up his iphone and looked at it you would find a little Bieber. Just sayin'.