Norman Lebrecht, in his latest book Why Mahler?, presents a highly original interpretation of how a composer, discarded for decades, has risen to challenge Beethoven at the centre of concert culture. What is it about Mahler, he asks, that makes him feel more a man of our 21st century than of his own times. Using psychological, cultural and musical analysis, Mr Lebrecht presents a portrait of a great composer wrestling with being an outsider - and how he invented the tools to deal with it.

Mr Lebrecht has lectured on musical themes for many of the world's great universities and orchestras and presents this live show from the Orell Fuessli English bookstore, Zurich Switzerland.

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Read the Norman Lebrecht Blog http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/ .

Catch the Norman Lebrecht BBC weekly shows . http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/lebrecht