88. Mahler, Gustav. Autograph letter signed (“Gustav”), 3 pages, (8 x 5 in.; 203 x 127 mm.), [Vienna, May-July 1897]; with integral blank, mounting remnants on top margin of first page not affecting any characters.

Gustav Mahler shows his excitement about his new appointment to the Vienna Hofoper.

Mahler writes in full: Dear Justi, I have now lots to do and to run around. Until now I conducted all the operas. Richter came already to visit me and we came to terms in a friendly way. He gives me to conduct Reingold and Walkure. These two operas will be at the end of August. You will get here in time for this! Sunday I hope to move into the new apartment and I am very happy about it. Today I was with Frick on the Kahlenberg, from there I have sent you a picture postcard. I am missing you very much but I am glad that you can enjoy your best years.
Also you will like very much now the company of Mrs. Marcus and she will like your company. Still this month I am conducting Figaro, Freischutz, Don Juan. (The last one I have to give to Richter to conduct.) I am learning Verkaufte Braut, Hans Heilin Profet, etc. With new works on every day and all without rehearsal. In the orchestra all goes well. It really is a pleasure with these people. I am writing in the greatest haste and send you and Mrs. Marcus and Toncher my regards, heartily your Gustav

Mahler’s post at the Hamburg Stadttheater was as chief conductor, subordinate to the director, Bernhard Pohl (known as Pollini) who retained overall artistic control. Pollini was prepared to give Mahler considerable leeway if the conductor could provide commercial as well as artistic success. This Mahler did in his first season, when he conducted Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde for the first time and gave acclaimed performances of the same composer’s Tannhäuser and Siegfried Another triumph was the German premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

At the Stadttheater Mahler introduced numerous new operas: Verdi’s Falstaff, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and works by Smetana. He was forced to resign his post, however, after poor financial returns and an ill-received interpretation of his re-scored Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Mahler had made it clear that his ultimate goal was an appointment in Vienna, and from 1895 onward was maneuvering, with the help of influential friends, to secure the directorship of the Vienna Hofoper. He overcame the bar that existed against the appointment of a Jew to this post by what may have been a pragmatic conversion to Roman Catholicism in February 1897. Two months later Mahler was appointed to the Hofoper, provisionally as a staff conductor with the title of Kapellmeister.

As he waited for the Emperor’s confirmation of his directorship, Mahler shared duties as a resident conductor with Joseph Hellmesberger Jr. and Hans Richter, an internationally renowned interpreter of Wagner and the conductor of the original Ring cycle at Bayreuth in 1876. 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.It is most likely that this letter was written in Vienna somewhere around May - July of 1897 just as Mahler settled into his new position at the Vienna Hofoper, provisionally as a staff conductor with the title of Kapellmeister. His mention of Hans Richter’s visit clearly indicates Mahler’s earlier thoughtful and calculated letter to the elder conductor worked its magic.
$6,000 - $8,000