With the terms «visionary» and «despot», the author seeks to
circumscribe the multilayered personality of Gustav Mahler. Opening up a
terra incognita, he draws a comprehensive map of the various aspects of
Mahler's inner biography: his unshakable belief in the «sacredness of
musical art» and strongly developed sense of mission, his double life as
conductor and composer, his inexorability and refusal to compromise
vis-à-vis himself and others, his discomfort with the world in which he
lived, the complex facets of his psyche and his enormous energy
potential. The result is the disclosure of new and unexpected
connections between Mahler's personality and his oeuvre.