Summary: Alma Schindler Mahler was a brilliant composer, pianist, and "influencer" who has largely been remembered only for the men with whom she had relationships. Her musical compositions are finally beginning to be recognized for their brilliance and performed on stage in the past few years, and her reputation as a "femme fatale" is long overdue for an overhaul. The "It Girl" of turn of the century Vienna, Alma Schindler was a famed wit, a renowned beauty, and a gifted pianist whose highest ambition, despite the restrictions put on her musical education, was to be a composer. After giving up her own work to marry "rock star" composer Gustav Mahler, Alma Mahler supported his career for nearly a decade until a series of tragedies led her to reclaim her own identity and creative work. After Gustav's death, Alma Mahler would have several relationships and two more marriages, and her life would span a dizzying breadth of world events from Golden Age Vienna to a Sound of Music-style escape from the invading Nazi forces in France to Hollywood at the height of its glamour.<br> <br> Join our guest, acclaimed author Mary Sharratt, as we discuss her new novel Ecstasy, and the extraordinary life of Alma Mahler.<br> <br> This episode also includes excerpts from "Art Sung, a collaborative stage performance celebrating the life and works of Alma Mahler, featuring Liz Mucha and Alexandra Weaver.
