I can't get over the massive contrast between how captivating and beautiful this performance is and how utterly terrible those words are.... In case you wonder how this all ended: Mahler changed his attitude later and started to support her ambitions as a composer. He needed to go through a marital crisis (Alma cheated on him) and some consultation with Freud to arrive there. Freud concluded that much damage had been done by Mahler's insisting that Alma give up her composing. Not a surprise really. Try to take away someone's creativity, self-expression, individuality and personality, render her a mere servant to your needs, insist that you must be the only source of her happiness - and watch what happens...
Widely known, perhaps notable, Beyonce Knowles and Gustav Mahler are eighth cousins four times removed. Alma's long and resilient life (1879-1964) with many personal tragedies drew from the satirist Tom Lehrer lyrics "There were three fanciers ones who she married / And God knows how many between". (SMH Michael Shmith 20 September 2019) Perhaps Gustav was aware, mindful, hopeful penning this letter. Team players, partners, amazing lives.
If you knew just how very far apart it is to be "eighth cousins" let alone "four times removed", you'd see that you can pick nearly any two people in the western world and find they have the same degree of relation.
Cate reads well, as she does everything. The strumming of the Adagietto as background schmalz is simply grotesque. Far better to recite to a background of silence.
The first 3 minutes and 38 seconds is not the Adagietto. It is an improvization that has nothing to do with Mahler. Finally at 3:38 the pianist begins playing the Adagietto, although in truncated form and fragmented. Better to have read the letter in silence. The accompaniment gets in the way of the words.
@@glasss1978Thank you for the correction of what I thought was an improvization. Do you know which Arvo Part piece it is, and which Alma Mahler song it is?
She was the 'Lady of the 4 Arts" 4 Men of different Arts were under her spell.. Like Clara Wieck /Schumann ordered by her Robert to stop composing.. She was the Better Pianist... Brahms dedicated his 1st Piano Comcerto to her. Fanny Henselt excellent pianist/composer but Brother Felix Mendelshonn made sure she didn't compose! Were these 2 Robert and Felix jealous of these 2 excellent composers Mahler too continue this tradition.. Music can only be composed by Men... ??? ..
Una carta del compositor Mahler a Alma, su prometida, quien también es compositora. En la cual le pide a Alma que deje su trabajo y pasión por la composición y dedicarse enteramente a atender las necesidades de el, y que a cambio, el le dará su amor. Mahler, un hombre de casta “patriarcal”, teme a que su mujer sea más su colega músico que su esposa. Le pide que renuncie a ella y sus deseos individuales y se dedique a únicamente hacerle feliz a él, y que la felicidad de el debe ser la felicidad también de ella. Que no pida nada de él, ni superficialidad, ni ostenticidas, solo amor. Y que el hará todo por hacerla feliz.
We should observe that he was a towering genius, both as composer and conductor. She, on the other hand, was a below-average and decidedly amateur musician. She hitched her horse to his wagon, - then wanted even more.
So why was he so afraid of her doing her little amateur composing hobby that was nothing compared to his genius? Why used the word of "rivalry" and possibly dragging them both down? Why insisted vehemently that she stopped doing it? (until Freud told him to sort his head out) Mind it, no one recognised him as a "towering genius" as a composer during his lifetime. As a conductor yes, as a composer, no. That recognition came decades after his death.
He was universally recognised as a genius, both as conductor and composer during his lifetime. That’s not to say he didn’t receive more than his fair share of criticism, - as do all men of genius. Certainly his appeal became more widespread after his death. This also is normal. As to why he wanted Alma to desist, - God knows. Embarrassment as to the amateur nature of her compositions? Desire for a conventional wife? Certainly not rivalry. She was nowhere near his level, and that is apparent to anyone who examines their work.
@@mediolanumhibernicus3353 Hello. Glasss 1978 is totally correct. G. Mahler certainly deserved recognition during his life as a composer, but never really received it. He was known as a conductor who also wrote crazy symphonies, and it was only because of his grandeur as a conductor that his original work was ever performed (during his lifetime). Alma compositionally also had incredible ideas, but all of her piano/voice work was flawed because she did not have the technical background to really express her work profoundly. I have rewritten and orchestrated five of her songs (4 will appear later this year on Universal Edition--they were the press that both Mahler's originally used) and the songs I worked with were all genuine diamonds in the rough. Anyway, to characterize her work as "amateur" is not accurate. And, I don't know that you could compare his songs with hers. Alma's writing was much more tonally advanced and the moods much darker and far more profound than almost all of Gustav's early songs. Anyway, the virtual recordings are posted here on You-tube, along with the preliminary scores. They are aimed at conductors, not so much people with no training. Here is one recording, if you are interested. "Alma Mahler, Laue Sommernacht revised and orchestrated for voice/orchestra." But give her another chance. She was incredibly talented, and, without a doubt, deserves a right to be known as a fine lieder writer.
