Alma Mahler-Werfel: composer, muse, femme fatale – myth. Like no other, she is an imago of sensuality and a symbol of fin-de-siècle Vienna. The new opera Alma by the Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff focuses on an aspect that has so far received little attention in the numerous artistic adaptations of Alma Mahler-Werfel’s biography: Alma, the mother.
With this world premiere, the Vienna Volksoper stages one of the city’s great female personalities through the eyes of a female composer.
We would like to point out that traumatic births and abortions are depicted in Alma.
Leading Team
Conductor Omer Meir Wellber
Komponistin Ella Milch-Sheriff
Libretto Ido Ricklin
Übersetzung aus dem Hebräischen Anke Rauthmann
Stage direction Ruth Brauer-Kvam
Set design Falko Herold
Costume design Alfred Mayerhofer
Lighting design Alex Brok
Choreography Florian Hurler
Video Martin Eidenberger
Choir director Holger Kristen
Dramaturgy Magdalena Hoisbauer
Cast on 06. November 2024
“Funeral? I don’t attend shows of that kind.” (Alma)
Act 1 – Manon
1935 at Grinzing cemetery. Vienna’s high society gathers for the funeral of Manon Gropius, daughter of Alma Mahler-Werfel and Walter Gropius, who died aged 18 after a serious illness. The absence of the grieving mother causes a scandal ... Anna Mahler, Alma’s only surviving child, tries to persuade her mother to go to Manon's funeral after all. Caught in her bitter and desperate state of mind Alma is just not able to. Filled with pain, Alma calls for her dead daughter, Manon appears as a revenant and looks back on her short life as the daughter of the famous ‘mistress of the four arts’.
“A monster-child.” (Alma)
Act 2 – Martin
Seventeen years earlier. On the eve of the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy Alma has grown tired of her marriage to Walter Gropius, her second husband. She begins an affair with poet Franz Werfel and gets pregnant. A passionate night of love in summer 1918 causes a premature birth; Alma's son Martin is born under very dramatic circumstances. While Alma keeps arguing with both men about who the father of the child is, Martin falls ill with dropsy and dies before his first birthday.
“I know what genius is.” (Alma)
Act 3 – The Unborn
1912. Alma is the widow of Gustav Mahler, who had died the year before. She is having an affair with the eccentric, obsessive artist Oskar Kokoschka. When Alma gets pregnant, Oskar, who is insanely jealous, believes that through this pregnancy can finally secure a legitimate place in Alma's life. Alma, however, decides to abort their child, and Oskar's madness takes him to new extremes: He commissions a life-sized doll to Alma's exact specifications; unlike his real lover he can now force the doll to succumb to his destructive love.
“There’s a toxic fungus in my blood, in my milk. Everything that grows inside of me dies.” (Alma)
Act 4 – Maria
1902, world premiere of Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony in Krefeld. Alma, newly married to the composer, is expecting her first child. The concert is a huge success but back at the family estate in Maiernigg at Lake Wörthersee, the couples' first daughter Maria is born during a traumatic birth. While Gustav is completely absorbed in his new role as a father as well as in his music, Alma spirals into a deep depression. She yearns for writing music again like she once did. Caught up in despair, Alma gets pregnant with their second daughter Anna. In the summer of 1907, a catastrophe strikes: Little Maria dies of diphtheria.
“You kill it with your bare hands – your soul.” (Anna)
Act 5 – Alma
Alma Schindler, considered to be “the most beautiful girl in Vienna”, dreams of becoming a famous composer. In 1901, she meets Gustav Mahler, then director of Vienna’s Court Opera. Soon a marriage with the man, who is 19 years her senior, is on the cards. Gustav insists that, should they marry, Alma must give up her ambitions as a composer and abandon her artistic work for good. He does not want to be married to a colleague. Alma is deeply hurt, struggles immensely, and finally gives in: she agrees to sacrifice her music for the sake of the potential she sees in her future life as Alma Mahler ...
Photos and Videos
For all those who use a screen reader, a description of the visual aspects of the performance (set design, costumes...) follows here instead of the photo gallery.
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Podcasts
Articles from our Weborello
"Cheered on frenetically": Press reviews of Alma
The opera Alma was celebrated by the audience at its premiere. Now the first press reviews are in: “Could be a hit with audiences,” they say.
.JPG "Annette Dasch (Alma Mahler-Gropius-Werfel), Timothy Fallon (Franz Werfel) - © Barbara Pálffy/Volksoper Wien")
3 questions for Ella Milch-Sheriff
What can you expect at the world premiere of the opera Alma? What inspired the composer? We asked Ella Milch-Sheriff for an interview and put 3 questions to her!
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5 good reasons to choose Alma
Are you still thinking about getting tickets for the world premiere of the opera Alma? Would you like to find out more about what to expect from this outstanding performance? We have put together 5 good reasons for you!
Press comments
Success for the world premiere of Ella Milch-Sheriff's 'Alma' at the Vienna Volksoper: director Ruth Brauer-Kvam delivers an all-round stage-effective production: thunderous applause, cheers and ovations!
Kronen Zeitung
27. October 2024
Colorful music and a dazzling subject: The world premiere of Ella Milch-Sheriff's opera about Alma Mahler-Werfel was frenetically acclaimed.
Der Standard
27. October 2024
Deeply sad and absolutely worth seeing: 'Alma' at the Volksoper tells the life of muse Alma Mahler-Werfel as a bitter tale of woe with impressive music.
Kurier
27. October 2024
The opera 'Alma' by Ella Milch-Sheriff was a unanimous world premiere success at the Volksoper Vienna with Annette Dasch in the title role, staged by Ruth Brauer-Kvam and under the musical direction of Omer Meir Wellber.
BR Klassik
27. October 2024
Thunderous applause, cheers, ovations for 'Alma' - but also for Ruth Brauer-Kvam's effective staging, the conductor Omer Meir Wellber and especially Alma Annette Dasch.
Kronen Zeitung
27. October 2024
Unanimous success for the world premiere of Ella Milch-Sheriff's musically allusive 'Alma'.
Die Presse
28. October 2024
The audience is thrilled, and the Volksoper proves that even today it is still possible to compose sophisticated audience successes beyond star theater. If one congenially reworks spectacular material.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
27. October 2024