Gustav Mahler valued art above all else. As director, he transformed the Vienna Court Opera into the world's finest music theater. Until he had to say goodbye.
Nature, the lake, and the forest served as his home and refuge. There, surrounded by flowers and birds, he was happy, solitary, in his element, alone with himself and his music. Gustav Mahler was not only a passionate composer, but also a conductor and director of the Vienna Court Opera. In this role, his highest artistic aspirations found expression in reforms that irritated both the orchestra and the audience. Art should no longer serve as entertainment, but as concentration! In the end, he turned his back on Vienna.
Gustav Mahler was born on July 7, 1860, in Kalischt, in what is now the Czech Republic, the son of a Jewish wine distiller. He suffered the loss of several siblings; six of his fourteen children died young. His first instrument was the accordion. But soon he discovered a piano in the attic, which fascinated him. His talent was obvious. At the age of ten, he gave his first piano concert. At fifteen, on the recommendation of his family, he went to the Vienna Conservatory to study composition.
Swaying gait, full brown beard
An acquaintance in his circle of friends, the artist Friedrich Eckstein, described the young man: “Even in the peculiarly swaying way he walked, an unusual irritability was noticeable; his mentally tense, extremely animated and narrow face was framed by a full brown beard; his speech was very pointed and had a strong Austrian timbre. He always carried a pack of books or sheet music under his arm, and conversations with him usually proceeded in bursts.”
His conducting career began at the age of 20. After positions in the provinces, he moved to Prague, Budapest – where he already proved himself as an opera director – and Hamburg. He composed on the side. His ambition, however, was to become director of the Vienna Court Opera. He not only strategically used his connections to achieve this, but even converted from Judaism to Catholicism. This made it easier to get ahead in Vienna. His appointment in 1897, initially as conductor, then as director, coincided with the founding of the avant-garde artists' association Secession, the opening of the Giant Ferris Wheel in the Prater amusement park, and the graduation of the first woman from the University of Vienna.
This already shows that something was happening. This was no longer Viennese Classicism. Gustav Mahler was already moving into modernism, which is also reflected in his works. He wrote ten symphonies and several song cycles with orchestral accompaniment – Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Kindertotenlieder, and Das Lied von der Erde.
Harmony and Reform – Composer and Opera Director
“He takes the structures a significant step further. You can see the openness to even more harmonies,” explains Elisabeth Albrecht, head of music education at the House of Music. “But the most fascinating thing about Gustav Mahler is how, as opera director, he initiated uncompromising reforms that were solely intended to serve art.” In this way, he made the Vienna State Opera the best music theater stage in the world.
Mahler was fed up with dealing with arrogant singers and a pleasure-seeking audience. The cult of personality and laissez-faire attitude were over. Inspired by the Bayreuth Festival, he applied the festival philosophy to the repertory system of an opera house, aiming to educate the audience: latecomers were only admitted during the intermission, the auditorium was darkened, and the orchestra stand lights dimmed to focus attention on the stage. With set designer Alfred Roller, he ensured that the stage design and lighting became symbolic expressions of the essence of each work. Direction was elevated, and mere, uninspired singing was rejected. No more sloppiness! All participants had to serve the art. This fiery spirit conducted himself, guiding, urging, and demanding. The Viennese were quite astonished when Mahler rode a bicycle to work. He was an open-minded traveler, but he valued musical tradition.
In summer, the lake speaks to him
In summer, Mahler retreated to the countryside, to nature. Because it was a source of inspiration for him, he had composing huts built at his summer residences: in 1894 in Steinbach am Attersee, in 1900 in Maiernigg am Wörthersee, and in 1908 in Toblach in South Tyrol. The lake spoke to him, Mahler said: "When I can listen to it, the compositions practically flow from my head." He tried to capture this feeling in his music. In his Eighth Symphony, he wanted to "make the universe resonate and sound, not only human voices, but also planets and suns revolve." People called the work the "Symphony of a Thousand" because 858 singers and 171 musicians participated in its premiere in 1910. He didn't abandon the compositional style of the 19th century, but rather pushed it to its limits.
Failed marriage to the It-girl
His marriage to Alma Schindler, 19 years his junior and an "it girl" of her time, known as a femme fatale, went awry. She had already been rumored to have had an affair with Gustav Klimt and later a liaison with the architect Walter Gropius. They divorced. One of their two daughters died. In the end, it was a mix of intrigue, bureaucracy, anti-Semitic attacks, and Mahler's health problems that led to the end of his directorship in 1907.
There was also a palpable sense of artistic disappointment when Mahler decided to retire. Even he could not fulfill his vision that every single evening should achieve not only the highest, but a unique quality on every level. He went to America and worked there as an orchestral conductor. In 1911, he conducted his last concert in New York. He died on May 18 in Vienna and was buried in the Grinzing Cemetery.
