His many enemies in the city used the anti-Semitic and conservative press to denigrate almost every performance of a Mahler work; thus the Third Symphony, a success in Krefeld in 1902, was treated in Vienna with critical scorn: "Anyone who has committed such a deed deserves a couple of years in prison."
Os seus numerosos inimigos na cidade empregaron a prensa antisemita e conservadora para denigrar case toda a interpretación dunha obra de Mahler; en consecuencia a Terceira Sinfonía, un éxito en Krefeld en 1902, foi tratada en Viena con desprezo da crítica: "Calquera que cometera un feito así merece un par de anos de cárcere".