Ernest Newman, move over

Gustav Mahler: A New Life Cut Short (1907-1911), the fourth and final volume of Henry-Louis de La Grange's epic biography, arrived in the mail today, to much excitement in this household. At 1758 pages, it's a touch long — the ratio of pages to days of Mahler's life is about 1.4:1 — but Penelope (pictured) is one of those for whom there is no such thing as too much Mahler. A quick survey suggests that in this expansion of his original French edition La Grange is pressing home the point that Mahler had a rather happier time in America than the standard mythology makes out (e.g., Gottfried Rosenbaum's immortal line in Pictures from an Institution: "Mahler diedt from America"). The introduction reveals that La Grange is not quite done: he is working on a revision of the first volume, which appeared in English back in 1973.