Editing Gustav Mahler (section)

====Hofoper director====
{{further|Repertory of the Vienna Court Opera under Gustav Mahler}}
[[File:Staatsoper (ca.1898).jpg|thumb|alt=An imposing, heavily ornamented building in a city location, with numerous horsedrawn vehicles and pedestrians passing. There are visible tramlines in the street.|Vienna Hofoper (now {{Lang|de|[[Vienna State Opera|Staatsoper]]|italic=no}}), pictured in 1898 during Mahler's conductorship]]
As he waited for the [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Emperor]]'s confirmation of his directorship, Mahler shared duties as a resident conductor with [[Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.]] (son of the former conservatory director) and [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]], an internationally renowned interpreter of Wagner and the conductor of the original ''Ring'' cycle at [[Bayreuth]] in 1876.<ref>La Grange, Vol. 2, p. 20</ref> Director [[Wilhelm Jahn]] had not consulted Richter about Mahler's appointment; Mahler, sensitive to the situation, wrote Richter a complimentary letter expressing unswerving admiration for the older conductor. Subsequently, the two were rarely in agreement, but kept their divisions private.<ref>La Grange, Vol. 2, pp. 20–21</ref>

Vienna, the imperial [[Austria-Hungary|Habsburg]] capital, had recently elected an anti-Semitic conservative mayor, [[Karl Lueger]], who had once proclaimed: "I myself decide who is a Jew and who isn't."<ref>La Grange, Vol 2 p. 5</ref> In such a volatile political atmosphere Mahler needed an early demonstration of his German cultural credentials. He made his initial mark in May 1897 with much-praised performances of Wagner's ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' and Mozart's {{lang|de|[[Die Zauberflöte]]}}.<ref name=Franklin7>Franklin (7. Vienna 1897–1907)</ref> Shortly after the {{lang|de|Zauberflöte}} triumph, Mahler was forced to take sick leave for several weeks, during which he was nursed by his sister Justine and his long-time companion, the viola player [[Natalie Bauer-Lechner]].<ref name=DLG32>La Grange, Vol 2 pp. 32–36</ref> Mahler returned to Vienna in late July to prepare for Vienna's first uncut version of the ''Ring'' cycle. This performance took place on 24–27 August, attracting critical praise and public enthusiasm. Mahler's friend Hugo Wolf told Bauer-Lechner that "for the first time I have heard the ''Ring'' as I have always dreamed of hearing it while reading the score".<ref>La Grange, Vol 2 pp. 49–51</ref>
[[File:Mahler conducting caricature.jpg|thumb|left|alt= A series of line drawings of a man in exaggerated poses, holding a conductor's baton|Mahler's conducting style, 1901, caricatured in the humour magazine {{lang|de|[[Fliegende Blätter]]}}]]
On 8 October Mahler was formally appointed to succeed Jahn as the Hofoper's director.<ref>La Grange, Vol 2 p. 54</ref>{{refn|Some sources, e.g., Paul Banks writing in Sadie, p. 509, give the appointment date as 8 September 1897. According to La Grange the decree appointing Mahler to the directorship was dated 8 October and signed by the Lord Chamberlain on behalf of the Emperor on 15 October.|group=n}} His first production in his new office was Smetana's Czech nationalist opera ''[[Dalibor (opera)|Dalibor]]'', with a reconstituted finale that left the hero Dalibor alive. This production caused anger among the more extreme Viennese German nationalists, who accused Mahler of "fraternising with the anti-dynastic, inferior Czech nation."<ref>La Grange, Vol 2, pp. 65–67</ref> The Austrian author [[Stefan Zweig]], in his memoirs ''[[The World of Yesterday]]'' (1942), described Mahler's appointment as an example of the Viennese public's general distrust of young artists: "Once, when an amazing exception occurred and Gustav Mahler was named director of the Court Opera at thirty-eight years old, a frightened murmur and astonishment ran through Vienna, because someone had entrusted the highest institute of art to 'such a young person' ... This suspicion—that all young people were 'not very reliable'—ran through all circles at that time."<ref>Stefan Zweig, {{lang|de|Die Welt von Gestern. Erinnerungen eines Europäers}}, quoted in Fischer, 2011, p. 50</ref> Zweig also wrote that "to have seen Gustav Mahler on the street [in Vienna] was an event that one would proudly report to his comrades the next morning as it if were a personal triumph."<ref>Stefan Zweig, {{lang|de|Die Welt von Gestern. Erinnerungen eines Europäers}}, quoted in Fischer 2011, p. 58.</ref> During Mahler's tenure a total of 33&nbsp;new operas were introduced to the Hofoper; a further 55 were new or totally revamped productions.<ref name=DLG941>La Grange, Vol. 3, pp. 941–944</ref> However, a proposal to stage [[Richard Strauss]]'s controversial opera ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]'' in 1905 was rejected by the Viennese censors.<ref>La Grange, Vol. 3, pp. 249–252</ref>

Early in 1902 Mahler met [[Alfred Roller]], an artist and designer associated with the [[Vienna Secession]] movement. A year later, Mahler appointed him chief stage designer to the Hofoper, where Roller's debut was a new production of {{lang|de|Tristan und Isolde}}.<ref>La Grange, Vol. 2, pp. 515–516, 560–561</ref>{{refn|[[Alma Schindler]], Mahler's future wife, claimed to have introduced Mahler to Roller at her stepfather's house in January 1902. However, there is some evidence that Roller had worked on designs for the Hofoper as early as January 1901.<ref>Carr, pp. 138–139</ref>|group=n}} The collaboration between Mahler and Roller created more than 20&nbsp;celebrated productions of, among other operas, Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]]'', Gluck's ''[[Iphigénie en Aulide]]'' and Mozart's {{lang|it|[[Le nozze di Figaro]]}}.<ref name=DLG941 /><ref name=Sadie510>Sadie, pp. 510–511</ref> In the ''Figaro'' production, Mahler offended some purists by adding and composing a short recitative scene to Act&nbsp;III.<ref>Mitchell, Vol. II, pp. 419–422</ref>

[[File:Mahler-Auenbruggergasse-2.jpg|thumb|alt=A dark plaque with white lettering in which the composer's name is shown in extra large characters on the left, the main message in smaller characters on the right|Plaque on Mahler's Vienna apartment, 2&nbsp;{{lang|de|Auenbruggergasse|italic=no}}: "Gustav Mahler lived and composed in this house from 1898 to 1909"]]

In spite of numerous theatrical triumphs, Mahler's Vienna years were rarely smooth; his battles with singers and the house administration continued on and off for the whole of his tenure. While Mahler's methods improved standards, his histrionic and dictatorial conducting style was resented by orchestra members and singers alike.<ref>La Grange, Vol. 2, pp. 130–131, 630–631</ref> In December 1903 Mahler faced a revolt by stagehands, whose demands for better conditions he rejected in the belief that extremists were manipulating his staff.<ref>La Grange, Vol. 2, pp. 632–634.</ref> The anti-Semitic elements in Viennese society, long opposed to Mahler's appointment, continued to attack him relentlessly, and in 1907 instituted a press campaign designed to drive him out.<ref name=Carr150>Carr, pp. 150–151</ref> By that time he was at odds with the opera house's administration over the amount of time he was spending on his own music, and was preparing to leave.<ref name=Sadie510 /> In May 1907 he began discussions with [[Heinrich Conried]], director of the New York [[Metropolitan Opera]], and on 21 June signed a contract, on very favourable terms, for four seasons' conducting in New York.<ref name=Carr150 /> At the end of the summer he submitted his resignation to the Hofoper, and on 15 October 1907 conducted ''Fidelio'', his 645th and final performance there. During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler had brought new life to the opera house and cleared its debts,<ref>Schonberg, p. 140</ref> but had won few friends—it was said that he treated his musicians in the way a lion tamer treated his animals.<ref>Snowman, p. 246</ref> His departing message to the company, which he pinned to a notice board, was later torn down and scattered over the floor.<ref>Blaukopf, pp. 217–19</ref> After conducting the Hofoper orchestra in a farewell concert performance of his Second Symphony on 24 November, Mahler left Vienna for New York in early December.<ref name=Sadie512>Sadie, pp. 512–13</ref><ref name=Carr154>Carr, pp. 154–155</ref>