Overview
Gustav Mahler was one of the supremely gifted musicians of his generation. His contemporaries came to know him as a composer of startling originality whose greatest successes with the public never failed to provoke controversy among the critics. As a conductor, his relentless pursuit of perfection was sometimes viewed as tyrannical by the singers and musicians who came under his baton. Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange has devoted over thirty years of painstaking research to this study of Mahlers life and works. His biography, ultimately to be completed in four volumes, is drawn from a vast archive of documents, autographs, and pictures, assembled by La Grange at the Bibliothèque Musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris. This third volume covers the years 1904-1907 and shows Mahler in his final years at the Hofoper coping with the rival demands on his energy and creative powers of the Opera on the one hand and his continuing struggle for recognition as a composer in his own right on the other. The first signs of marital difficulties with Alma emerge. Mahlers trials culminate in 1907 with the death of Putzi, his eldest daughter, a terminal crisis at the Opera which makes him decide to leave Vienna, and the alarming diagnosis by the doctors of a cardiac deficiency. True to life portraits are drawn of Mahler the human being, the family man, and the composer, as well as the administrator, producer, and conductor at the Vienna Opera. Innumerable testimonies and anecdotes throw new light on the many aspects of Mahler's complex personality.
Full Product Details
Author: Henry-Louis de La Grange (President, President, Bibliothèque Musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Volume: 4 Volumes
Dimensions:
Width: 16.20cm
, Height: 6.00cm
, Length: 24.10cm
Weight: 1.353kg
ISBN: 9780193151604
ISBN 10: 019315160
Pages: 1048
Publication Date: 24 February 2000
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
The author ... is recognised as the leading authority on the musician's life and works. `Anything less than the maximum star rating for this 1000 page tome would be presumptuous.' Classic CD `the ardent Mahlerian will be thrilled to have thumbnail portraits of the lowliest bit players, together with lengthy citations from the press of Mahler's day.' Classic CD `amazing, zealous detail ... well priced and well produced.' Classic CD `Mahler scholars will admire the encyclopedic detail in the third volume of Henri-Louis de la Grange's Mahler biography.' Michael White, Daily Telegraphy, 11/11/00. `This must be one of the most detailed, comprehensive biographies ever written.' Anthony Storr, Literary Review, August 2000. `this enormous book remains readable ... the author has a narrative gift which ensures that the reader is not swamped by the mass of detail ... this biography will remain a treasure trove for scholars.' Anthony Storr, Literary Review, August 2000. `many insights into both his personality and contemporary conditions. Some of these stories are really compelling. The apendices are particularly valuable ... These are models of their kind, illuminating and jargon-free.' Terry Barfoot, Classical Music, Sat 7th Oct. 00. `The relationship between Mahler and fellow musicians emerges strongly.' Terry Barfoot, Classical Music, Sat 7th Oct, 2000. `a real flavour of time and place ... the attention to detail is extraordinary.' Terry Barfoot, Classical Music, Sat 7th Oct, 2000. `The relationship between Mahler and fellow musicians emerges strongly.' Terry Barfoot, Classical Music, 7 Oct. 2000. `Some of these stories are really compelling ... the apendices are particularly valuable ... models of their kind, illuminating and jargon-free.' Terry Barfoot, Classical Music, 7 Oct. 2000. `The attention to detail is extraordinary ... painstaking research.' Terry Barfoot, Classical Music, 7 Oct. 2000.
Anything less than the maximum star rating for this 1000 page tome would be presumptuous. Classic CD This must be one of the most detailed, comprehensive biographies ever written ... this enormous book remains readable ... the author has a narrative gift which ensures that the reader is not swamped by the mass of detail ... this biography will remain a treasure trove for scholars. Anthony Storr, Literary Review, August 2000.
Author Information
Henry-Louis de La Grange is President of the Bibliothèque Musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris; Chevalier of the Order of the Légion d'honneur; Officier of the Ordre du Merite
