On the Franz Schubert Express taking her from Prague to Vienne – and a year later, on the Gustav Mahler Express for the return journey – the eccentric Maya Ney, retired psychologist and aspiring detective, makes some unexpected encounters. They include the elegant Clara Blau:Maya is touched by the tears Clara sheds as she reads Apollinaire’s letters filled with love and lies, written simultaneously to both his fiancée and his mistress. Sitting next to each other on the train, Clara tells Maya her life story, describing herself as a widowed divorcee and expressing her intense hatred for the woman who was married to her husband during the last three years of his life. Maya Ney gradually becomes enthralled by Clara’s story, confided over glasses of cognac. Is the Blau family’s tale the expression of the strange sentiment that later takes hold of her in the streets of Vienna, a sort of inextricable blend of refinement and cruelty? When, a year later, Maya Ney takes her seat for the return journey, she witnesses singular and intimate exchanges between two strange individuals. We will find out that the pair has escaped from a psychiatric ward and that they believe they are Gustav and Alma Mahler! The tragic events that take place on board the Gustav Mahler Express will force Maya Ney into action.

Franz Schubert Express and Gustav Mahler Express are comedies of manners that pay subtle homage to Stefan Zweig, Thomas Bernhard and Gustav Mahler in their description of a Vienna where the hypocrisy is interwoven with the delicacy of the masters of music.