Editing Gustav Mahler (section)

====New York====
[[File:Metropolitan opera 1905.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A tall, imposing stone building in an almost empty city street with tramcar passing. A tower in the background is the only other highrise building.|[[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)]] in New York, at around the time of Mahler's conductorship (1908–09)]]
Mahler made his New York debut at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] on 1 January 1908, when he conducted Wagner's {{lang|de|Tristan und Isolde}}.<ref name=Franklin8 /> In a busy first season Mahler's performances were widely praised, especially his ''Fidelio'' on 20 March 1908, in which he insisted on using replicas that were at the time being made of Alfred Roller's Vienna sets.<ref>Carr, p. 163</ref> On his return to Austria for the summer of 1908, Mahler established himself in the third and last of his composing studios, in the pine forests close to [[Toblach]] in [[County of Tyrol|Tyrol]]. Here, using a text by [[Hans Bethge (poet)|Hans Bethge]] based on ancient Chinese poems, he composed {{lang|de|[[Das Lied von der Erde]]}} ("The Song of the Earth").<ref name=Franklin8 /> Despite the symphonic nature of the work, Mahler refused to number it, hoping thereby to escape the [[curse of the ninth|"curse of the Ninth Symphony"]] that he believed had affected fellow-composers Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner.<ref name="Sadie512" /> On 19 September 1908 the premiere of the [[Symphony No. 7 (Mahler)|Seventh Symphony]], in Prague, was deemed by Alma Mahler a critical rather than a popular success.<ref>A Mahler, p. 143</ref>

[[File:Auguste Rodin - Gustav Mahler (1909).jpg|thumb|upright|Bronze bust of Mahler by [[Auguste Rodin]], 1909]]
For its 1908–09 season the Metropolitan management brought in the Italian conductor [[Arturo Toscanini]] to share duties with Mahler, who made only 19&nbsp;appearances in the entire season. One of these was a much-praised performance of Smetana's ''[[The Bartered Bride]]'' on 19 February 1909.<ref>Anon. 1909.</ref> In the early part of the season Mahler conducted three concerts with the [[New York Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>Anon. 1908.</ref> This renewed experience of orchestral conducting inspired him to resign his position with the opera house and accept the conductorship of the re-formed [[New York Philharmonic]]. He continued to make occasional guest appearances at the Met, his last performance being Tchaikovsky's ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]'' on 5 March 1910.<ref>Blaukopf, pp. 225–226</ref>

Back in Europe for the summer of 1909, Mahler worked on his [[Symphony No. 9 (Mahler)|Ninth Symphony]] and made a conducting tour of the Netherlands.<ref name=Franklin8 /> The 1909–10 New York Philharmonic season was long and taxing; Mahler rehearsed and conducted 46 concerts, but his programmes were often too demanding for popular tastes. His own First Symphony, given its American debut on 16 December 1909, was one of the pieces that failed with critics and public, and the season ended with heavy financial losses.<ref>Carr, pp. 172–173</ref> The highlight of Mahler's 1910 summer was the first performance of the Eighth Symphony at Munich on 12 September, the last of his works to be premiered in his lifetime. The occasion was a triumph—"easily Mahler's biggest lifetime success", according to Carr<ref name=Carr207>Carr, p. 207</ref>—but it was overshadowed by the composer's discovery, before the event, that Alma had begun an affair with the young architect [[Walter Gropius]]. Greatly distressed, Mahler sought advice from [[Sigmund Freud]], and appeared to gain some comfort from his meeting with the psychoanalyst. One of Freud's observations was that much damage had been done by Mahler's insisting that Alma give up her composing. Mahler accepted this, and started to positively encourage her to write music, even editing, orchestrating and promoting some of her works. Alma agreed to remain with Mahler, although the relationship with Gropius continued surreptitiously. In a gesture of love, Mahler dedicated his Eighth Symphony to her.<ref name=Sadie510 /><ref name=Franklin8 />