Mahler would have either been fascinated by Janacek's operas and later works, or he would have avoided them out of jealousy (no pun intended). If Mahler had survived his illness and lived longer, I think he would have worked through his personal insecurities to the point that the first scenario would have been far more likely. The problem is that Janacek didn't write his greatest works until quite late in his life. Mahler would have had to survived at least a few more decades, which then brings up the whole business of interference from two world wars, the great depression and the Holocaust.
Interestingly, Mahler acolyte Otto Klemperer *was* a devotee of Janacek's works as a young conductor, performing Jenufa in 1918, and Kat'a Kabanova in 1922, and preparing to conduct From The House of the Dead and The Excursions of Mr Broucek, though the last two never happened, sadly (Broucek owing to the impossibility of getting a German translation). He also planned to conduct The Cunning Little Vixen and The Makropoulos Affair.
He also took up the Sinfonietta in the concert hall, giving the first German performance of it - though sadly not Taras Bulba which would probably have been epic in OK's hands! When asking permission to conduct the Sinfonietta, he simply wrote a letter addressed to 'Mr Leos Janacek, Composer, Brünn' - which got to him, Brünn being the German name for Brno.
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