Today it's Maestro Jansons' 74th anniversary. Happy Birthday, Maestro, and thank you for the music!

Mariss Jansons was born in Riga (Latvia), on January 14th, 1943, in a family of musicians: his father was a renowned conductor himself, and his mother was a mezzosoprano. He began his musical career studying violin, piano and conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory (now, Sankt Petersburg Conservatory). He was discovered by Herbert von Karajan, after winning second prize in a contest for young conductors. He completed his education with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. Soon, he was to become the latter's assistant.

Mariss Jansons was chief conductor of the Oslo Philarharmonic Orchestra (1979-2000), the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1997-2004), the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam (2004-2015) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (2003-present).

He conducted 3 New Year's Concerts in Vienna: in 2006, 2012 (my all-time favourite) and 2016.

Mariss Jansons is a prolific recording artist: his discography comprises many prizewinning recordings, including a Grammy for his account of Shostakovich's 13th Symphony. He has recently been nominated for another Grammy Award, this time for his live recording of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, along with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam. The winners are to be announced in February. So, good luck, Maestro!

Mariss Jansons is an honorary member of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna and of the Royal Academy of Music in London. Among his numerous awards and distinctions, it is worth mentioning: the Hans-von-Bulow Medal, received from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Golden Medal of Honour, awarded to him by the City of Vienna, the Honorary Cross for Science and Arts, received from the State of Austria. He was elected Artist of the Year (2006) and received the ECHO Klassik Award in 2007 and 2008. In 2013, he was awarded the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, for his life's achievement as a conductor, and the same year, the German Federal President Joachim Gauck honoured him with the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class. In 2015, Mariss Jansons was named ''Commandeur des Arts et Lettres'' by the French Ministry of Culture.

Here he is, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks), interpreting Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.