Beginning with his employment by a Hungarian family as piano tutor in 1879, Mahler's contacts with Hungary spanned a full quarter of a century. They included the most significant period of some three years when he directed the Royal Hungarian Opera, exercising artistic control over a major institution for the first time, and ended with his guiding from afar of an early and astonishing performance of the complete Third Symphony in Budapest in 1905. Published accounts (especially of his work between 1888 and 1891) are variously anecdotal, inaccurate or incomplete. This work, then, is the first comprehensive examination of Mahler's connections with Hungary, based on primary sources (many published in English here for the first time) and documented secondary evidence. While Chapter III, devoted to Mahler's three seasons as director, is the focus and bulk of the book, Chapters II and IV provide a socio-cultural setting for the period, essential to an understanding of his lot as opera director. The framing chapters concern Mahler's road to Budapest on the one hand, and his Hungarian contacts after 1891 on the other. With its rich offering of documents and many illustrations, this book presents a scholarly, yet highly readable and fascinating account of an important part of Mahler's life and career.