Mariss Jansons

Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (* 14. Januar 1943 in Riga; † 1. Dezember 2019 in Sankt Petersburg) was an Latvian conductor, the son of conductor Arvīds Jansons and the singer Iraida Jansone. Iraida Jansone, who was Jewish, gave birth to her son in hiding in Riga, Latvia, after being smuggled out of the Riga Ghetto, where Iraida's father and brother were murdered by the Nazis. As a child, Jansons first studied violin with his father. In 1946, Mariss's father, Arvīds Jansons won second prize in a national competition and was chosen by Yevgeny Mravinsky to be his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic. When his family joined him in 1956, young Mariss entered the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied piano and conducting, although his father urged him to continue playing violin. In 1969, he continued his training in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky and in Salzburg with Herbert von Karajan. Karajan wanted to invite Jansons to be his assistant with the Berlin Philharmonic, but the Soviet authorities blocked Jansons from ever hearing about the offer.