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Author Haste, Cate, 1945-2021 author.

Title Passionate spirit : the life of Alma Mahler / Cate Haste.

Publication Info. New York : Basic Books, 2019.
©2019

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Middletown, Russell Library - Adult Biography  B-MAHLER HAS    Check Shelf
 New Britain, Main Library - Non Fiction  780.92 MAH    Check Shelf
 Newington, Lucy Robbins Welles Library - Adult Department  780.92 MAHLER    Check Shelf
Edition First edition.
Description xii, 351 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Summary "Alma Mahler died in New York City in 1964, at the age of 85. The New York Times ran an obituary that described her as a woman whose "intellect ... complimented her beauty." The obituary was something of a scandal: spicy, racy, naming the names of Alma's lovers, dredging up her secret affairs, and-in tone-passing judgment on this woman who had the audacity to be attracted to, and attractive to, men of genius. Since then, history has passed judgement on Alma, accusing her of being unworthy of her most famous husband Gustav Mahler. Now, for the first time, historian Cate Haste uses Alma's own diaries to set the record straight. Born in Vienna in 1879, Alma was an artist among artists-a talented musician who dreamed of being a composer and the first woman to write a famous opera. Passionate, romantic, and brilliant, Alma was stifled by society everywhere she turned. Eventually, she put her own dreams aside, and grabbed at power and influence through the only avenue available to her-supporting the art of more famous men. Alma Mahler's first love was painter Gustav Klimt. Her first husband was composer Gustav Mahler, followed by architect Walter Gropius, and then writer Franz Werfel. In and out of Alma's life, salon, and bed passed the great men of Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century-she was courted by opera singer Erik Schmedes, artist Oskar Kokoshka, and scientist Paul Kammerer; she drove Mahler to such despair that he consulted with Sigmund Freud, and she ran in the same circles as H.G. Wells, Sinclair Lewis, Francis Poulenc, Thomas Mann, Max Reinhardt, and Erich Remarque. Alma dedicated herself to nurturing the genius of the glittering men around her at the expense of her own artistic dreams"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-335) and index.
Contents Vienna childhood 1879-1898 -- Awakening 1898-1899 -- Love and music 1889-1901 -- Divine longing 1901-1902 -- A nobler calling 1902-1907 -- Grief and renewal 1907-1910 -- 'To live for you, to die for you' 1910-1911 -- Tempest 1911-1914 -- War and marriage 1914-1917 -- Intertwined souls 1917-1920 -- Conflict 1921-1931 -- Gathering storms 1931-1936 -- Flight 1936-1941 -- Exile 1941-1946 -- La grande veuve 1946-1964.
Subject Mahler, Alma, 1879-1964.
Vienna (Austria) -- Biography.
Women composers -- Austria -- Biography.
Diarists -- Austria -- Biography.
Wives -- Biography.
Arts, Austrian -- 20th century.
Europe -- Intellectual life -- 20th century.
Mahler, Alma, 1879-1964. (OCoLC)fst00000537
Arts, Austrian. (OCoLC)fst00817910
Diarists. (OCoLC)fst00892681
Intellectual life. (OCoLC)fst00975769
Wives. (OCoLC)fst01176420
Women composers. (OCoLC)fst01177510
Austria. (OCoLC)fst01204901
Austria -- Vienna. (OCoLC)fst01204516
Europe. (OCoLC)fst01245064
Chronological Term 1900-1999
Genre/Form Biographies.
Biography. (OCoLC)fst01423686
Biographies.
ISBN 9780465096718 (hardcover alkaline paper)
0465096719 (hardcover alkaline paper)
9780465096725 (electronic book)
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