While reading a review of a Mahler biography in Harper's yesterday, I discovered Mahler had a most fascinating and enchanting wife: Alma Schindler, the "most beautiful girl in Vienna." Interested, I did a little research on her and am presenting a few excerpts here. If these snippets cause you to become as enraptured by her as I, Klimt, Mahler, Gropius and Kokoschka did, there are a lot more photos and audio files of her available via the reference links below.

Alma Maria Mahler-Werfel (born Schindler) (August 31, 1879–December 11, 1964) was a Viennese-born socialite well known in her youth for her beauty and vivacity. She became the wife, successively, of composer Gustav Mahler, architect Walter Gropius, and novelist Franz Werfel, as well as the consort of several other prominent men. Musically active in her teens, she was the composer of at least seventeen songs. In later years her salon became an important feature of the artistic scene, first in Vienna, then in Los Angeles.¹

"Gustav Klimt entered my life as my first great love, but I was an innocent child, totally absorbed in my music and far removed from life in the real world. The more I suffered from this love, the more I sank into my own music, and so my unhappiness became a source of my greatest bliss."

Klimt pursued Alma as far as Italy during a holiday trip. They met secretly, and Alma was willing to swear eternal faithfulness to him. It was on this trip that Klimt stole a first kiss from Alma, the discovery of which led to a serious rift with Carl Moll. Moll discovered the scandalous flirtation and forced Klimt to leave and promise to keep away from Alma in future.²

…

A stormy love affair soon developed between Alma, an attractive and self-confident young woman, and the introverted Zemlinsky. She loved the "small, ugly gnome" and Zemlinsky returned these feelings: "I want you—with every atom of my feeling." Alma allowed herself to be kissed and caressed by him and allowed him every intimacy except the ultimate—thereby almost robbing him of his reason. He, for his part, understood how to awaken Alma's burgeoning sexuality with a passion, which meant she could never forget his "virtuoso hands." The relationship was a roller coaster of feelings, humiliations and torment on the part of Alma, mixed with passionate declarations of love and bizarre diary entries: "Alex—my Alex. I want to be your baptismal font. Pour your abundance into me!"²

…

As early as July 1912, Alma became pregnant by Kokoschka. In October however, she had the pregnancy terminated. In the hospital, he took the first blood-soaked cloth from her and carried it home. "That is my only child, he said, and will always be so." Later, he always carried this old, dried-up piece of cloth with him. Kokoschka never overcame his pain at the loss of their joint child, and made it the topic of numerous drawings.³

Interview with Jimmy Berg (New York)

References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_Mahler
2. http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/almas_life.html
3. http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/almas_life2.html

Picture from http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/almas_life.html. Audio from http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/presscorner/soundfiles.html.