Gustav Mahler was admitted to the Vienna Conservatory in September 1875. He studied piano with Professor Julius Epstein, and composition and counterpoint with Franz Krenn. At that time, the conservatory primarily trained future pianists and composers – there was no separate conducting department yet.
It was only in 1909, after the conservatory was transformed into the State Vienna Academy, that the so-called “Kapellmeister School” was established. In Mahler’s time, however, a broad musical education was considered essential for a conducting career: excellent piano playing, the ability to read from a score, compose, and improvise, as well as a mastery of harmony and counterpoint.
Mahler therefore had no formal conducting teacher, yet his conservatory training provided him with everything a conductor of the era needed – it was comprehensive, practical, and artistically inspiring.
After completing his studies, Mahler accepted his first post in 1880 as conductor of the seasonal spa orchestra in Bad Hall, Upper Austria. He subsequently worked:
1881–1882 in Ljubljana,
1883 as Kapellmeister at the Royal Municipal Theatre in Olomouc,
1883–1885 in Kassel,
1885–1886 in Prague, at the German Royal Provincial Theatre under director Angelo Neumann,
where he achieved great success with Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
From 1886 to 1888, he served as second conductor at the Municipal Theatre in Leipzig, then from 1888 to 1891 as artistic director of the Royal Hungarian Opera in Budapest. This was followed by an engagement in Hamburg (1891–1897) as principal conductor of the Municipal Theatre.
By this time, Mahler was already recognized as a conductor of international stature, with successful guest appearances in numerous European cities – including London (June–July 1892).
In 1897, Mahler reached the pinnacle of his career when he became chief conductor and director of the Vienna Court Opera (Wiener Hofoper).
He collaborated with designers Heinrich Lefler and Alfred Roller, engaged the finest singers of his time, and demanded the highest artistic standards from both orchestra and stage productions.
His tenure from 1897 to 1907 marked a period of flourishing for the Vienna Opera and the beginning of a new era of opera staging – one that emphasized not only musical perfection but also dramatic and visual unity.
After leaving Vienna in 1907, Mahler accepted a position at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he remained until his death. From 1909, he also conducted the New York Philharmonic.
During his time in America, he performed not only in New York but also in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Over the course of nearly 300 concerts, Mahler presented almost 400 works by around 90 composers.
He most frequently performed works by Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Among Czech composers, his programs featured works by Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák (The Heroic Song).
“As a genius conductor, Mahler had no serious rivals. All music experts and journalists recognized his contribution to music and the revival of opera, which he achieved as conductor, dramaturge, director, and advisor to singers.”
— T. Fischer, Lecture, March 21, 1931
