Gustav Mahler in Vienna
The series about historical places of opera art & culture. Get to know exciting excursion and travel ideas for opera lovers. This time: Gustav Mahler in Vienna.
All Destinations on google maps with links to detailed Blogposts:
Mahler in Wien
When Mahler came to the State Opera as court opera director in 1897, it was customary for opera singers to stand at the ramp and sing with pathetic arm movements in front of painted backdrops. Mahler, who was steeped in Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk of theatrical art, stage design, literature and music, set about fundamentally reforming the art of opera scenically.
As opera director and first Kapellmeister in personal union, he decided to take the liberty of simultaneously directing as musical director. This reform work, which was decisively strengthened in 1903 with the appointment of the stage designer Alfred Roller, brought the Court Opera to the artistic top, but also earned Mahler many enemies. The latter was probably due even more to the rampant anti-Semitism.
Mahler fought against the conservatism of the Viennese authorities. When Strauss premiered his Salome in Dresden, Mahler wanted to bring the opera to Vienna, but the censorship authorities refused to allow a performance of the scandalous opera. For more than ten years, the Viennese quarelled with the Jew (who was baptised earlier in Hamburg), until Mahler, exhausted by his duties and the many concert tours, left the court opera for New York.
Mahler remained in the United States for three years, with interruptions, and returned to Vienna in 1911, terminally ill, where he died in the same year.
To the travel guide VIENNA for classic and opera fans
Destination Vienna Court Opera (today State Opera)
The Mahler period is one of the absolute glories of the State Opera, and the Viennese honored him with one of Rodin’s busts, which today stands in the so-called Schwind Foyer (it is a replica, the original was melted down during World War II).
Mahler bust in the State Opera House:
Mahler was in Rodin’s studio a dozen times. Rodin then created two versions of busts, one naturalistic and one artistic. There are various casts of both versions. There are 5 original casts of the lifelike one, one of which is in the Vienna Upper Belvedere (Alma Mahler’s personal bust). The original casts are in the Rodin Museum in Paris.
Rodin’s two versions:
Destination Secessionsgebäude (Secession Building) and Beethoven frieze
This famous Art Nouveau building from 1897, together with its associated artists such as Klimt, Klinger or Roller, had an eminent cultural-historical significance for Vienna and a tremendous international impact. Mahler often gave concerts here during his Viennese years and is said to have been immortalized by his friend Klimt on his famous Beethoven frieze as a knight in golden armor.
Mahler on the Beethoven Frieze:
https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/
Destination Apartment at Auenbrugggergasse 2 and deathplace at Mariannengasse 20
Mahler lived here almost the entire Viennese period. First with his sister Justine and then with his wife Alma Mahler, whom he married in 1901.
The house is still inhabited, a plaque commemorates the famous resident.
Auenbruggengasse 2 (Intersection Rennweg):
Mahler died at Mariannengasse 20, where the Löw Sanatorium was located at the time. A plaque at the place of death commemorates the famous patient.
Mariannengasse 20:
Destination Cemetery Grinzing
In Gustav Mahler’s youth, infant death was a terrible normality; four of his siblings died at an early age. Especially the death of his 13-year-old brother was a terrible experience for the then 15-year-old Gustav. Mahler processed these childhood experiences in his first symphony, with the famous brother Jacob motif as the theme of a funeral march.
When his beloved daughter died of diphtheria at the age of five, a world collapsed for Gustav and Alma, and Alma reproached her husband for his Kindertotenlieder (the songs on the death of children) he had written earlier as a terrible omen.
Gustav had Maria Anna buried in the Grinzing cemetery and in his will he stipulated that he be buried next to her.
Mahler’s grave at cemetery Grinzing:
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!