Alma Schindler Mahler (1879 – 1964) was to be wed to three
of the great creative geniuses of the late 19th and early 20th
century – Gustav Mahler (composer/conductor), Walter Gropius (architect), and
Franz Werfel (writer). Beyond these three marriages, she also had relationships
or affairs with many other men, taking pride in identifying men of promise and
inspiring, urging, or taunting them to greatness - at least her diaries reflect
this intent. Her life was beyond fascinating, attracting admiration from some
and disdain from others but there is no question, she was constantly evolving
and searching for her own place in the world.
The author of this biography (2015), Donald Arthur, does not spin a
polite story. Characterized variously as superficial, narcissistic, impetuous,
sexualized, and anti-Simetic, one might not expect Alma to attract a wide
circle of friends; somehow these qualities were overlooked or may even have
enticed many men who would be prominent artists. Alma was a survivor, having
lost a beloved father, tolerating a disinterested step father (Carl Moll, one
of the founders of the Secession movement in Vienna), romanced as a teen by
Gustav Klimt (painter), and struggling throughout her life to be satisfied with
any lover, no matter how dedicated they were to her.
I was left wondering if Alma’s life might have been
different had her ambition been directed at her own creations rather than
wrapped up in those she loved. I also wonder if her criticism and abuse of
others might have been subdued had the times in which she grew up not been so
tolerant of classicism and discrimination. Arthur described Alma as imperious,
prone to jealousy, and haughty, all feigned to obscure her own insecurity.
Although Alma was only married to Gustav Mahler from 1901 to
his death in 1911, she returned throughout her life to his name in order to
command the social position she believed she warranted. Even in her final days
in New York City, Leonard Bernstein would invite Alma to performances of
Mahler’s symphonic works. Exploiting Mahler’s name and growing prestige
while he was still alive, she complained that he did not recognize her musical
talent, which by most accounts was modest. Although Mahler is now one of the
most widely performed composers in the modern day, he had ups and downs during
his years conducting the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan (NYC), and
eventually the newly formed New York Philharmonic. The pinnacle - Mahler’s
eventual reputation would command an astounding 1.5 million dollars for his
last three years in New York City. Gustav Mahler left Alma a rich and prominent
widow who would immediately pursue Walter Gropius with whom she had an affair while
Gustav was still alive.
Oskar Kokoschka, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Wassily Kandinsky,
Arnold Schonberg, Bruno Walter, Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Erich Wolfgang
Korngold, Eugene Ormandy, and others were all to encounter Alma Mahler. Their
association with this complicated muse would aid some of their careers and
others would only brush with the flame that had consumed others. Upon her death
in 1964 the Washington Post would
publish:
Alma Mahler-Werfel, 85, who was
married to, or, by her own admission had love affairs with many of Europe’s
great men in the early 1900s, was the widow of the composer Gustav Mahler, and
was called “the most beautiful woman in Vienna” at the turn of the century.
To have known so many, and influenced them through her
social networks, must be counted for better or worse as a peculiar, and sometimes
sinister, form of leadership. Alma Schindler Mahler rose to the top of elite circles
and was intimate with giants of arts and culture most of us could only
fantasize the chance to encounter.
