Gustav Mahler

Born 7 July 1860 in Bohemia to Jewish parents of humble origins, Mahler showed musical gifts early and graduated from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878. He climbed through conducting posts across Europe until 1897, when he converted to Catholicism to become director of the Vienna Court Opera — a decade marked by innovative productions, relentless standards, and constant attacks from the anti-Semitic press. Late in life he briefly led New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Philharmonic. Composing was a part-time pursuit, but he wrote for large orchestral forces and operatic soloists; the works wer…