Alma Mahler was always magically attracted to people in the arts. Therefore in 1911 she developed a keen interest in making the acquaintance of Alban Berg, and very soon he and his wife were to count among her closest friends.

Altogether 564 letters are assembled here dating from 1911– 1964, displaying the sparkling personality of a highly-gifted woman who enjoyed living life to the full.

Her many affairs, her understanding of music, her own compositions and her feeling for whatever was great in the arts are thereby exemplified. She supported Alban Berg financially long before he became famous and she was ridiculed in Vienna for being a producer of scandals, not of music.

However, there was also a dark side to Alma Mahler's personality – her anti-Semitism and her political leanings in the 1930's led to the end of her friendship with Alban Berg. Her letters grant an insight into hers as well as Alban Berg's life and into the arts and politics of the day.

About the author:

Martina Steiger was born in Vienna in 1959. She studied musicology, history, musical and instrumental pedagogy.

For her book, 'The Love of Richard Strauss' Danae', she was bestowed with the 'Dr. Maria Schaumayer Stiftung Prize'. Also well received was her publication of 'Richard Strauss – Karl Böhm, Exchange of Letters, 1921 – 1949. Martina Steiger works and resides in Vienna.