FINIS CORONAT OPUS
"Vollendet das ewige Werk:
Auf Berges Gipfel
Die Götter-Burg,
Prunkvoll prahlt
Der prangende Bau!"
RHEINGOLD
It was in April, 1872, that Wagner went to Bayreuth to live. He at
first occupied rooms in the small hotel belonging to the Castle
Fantaisie, in the village of Donndorf, an hour's ride from Bayreuth.
Subsequently he moved into hired apartments in the town. Meanwhile a
new home for him was in process of erection, and in 1874 he and his
family took possession of the Villa Wahnfried, where his widow and
children still live. This house was built in accordance with Wagner's
own ideas, and in it at last he found that domestic peace and comfort
for which he had longed through so many years of struggle. But the
theatre and the performance of the Nibelung drama were still at
a distance. Work on the "Festspielhaus," as it is called, was in
progress, but the difficulties in the way of its completion seemed
well-nigh insuperable. Money, money, was still the cry. The history
of the inception and progress of the Bayreuth project might well be
told at great length, but it must be narrated as briefly as possible.
Why had Wagner selected Bayreuth as the scene of the crowning labour
of his career? Other cities in Germany had offered him inducements,
but they were precisely the sort of inducements that a man of
Wagner's artistic ideas could not appreciate. He could have gone to
cities in which he would have had ready-made publics in the shape
of summer tourists in large numbers, but such publics he did not
desire. He wished to bring to the performance of his magnum opus an
assembly gathered for no other object. He desired the representations
to take place where they alone would be the moving thought in the
public mind. People must go to Bayreuth solely to attend the Wagner
performances, and thus the audience would come into the theatre in
the right mood. Again, Bayreuth was in Bavaria, and Wagner wished to
carry out in the dominion of his royal friend the great project of
his life.
But how was the necessary money to be raised? Performances of the
older works brought in but little, and concerts were expensive. At
this juncture Carl Tausig, the young pianist, conceived a plan, which
he elaborated with the aid of the Baroness Marie von Schleinitz. It
was estimated that the entire expense of preparing and performing
"Der Ring des Nibelungen" would amount to about 300,000 thalers, or
$225,000. The plan was to sell 1000 certificates of membership among
the supporters of Wagner's ideas. The holder of one certificate was
to be entitled to a seat at each of the three series of performances.
Any person could buy several certificates, and three might unite in
the purchase of one, each of the three thus attending one series.
Tausig had other ideas in his head for the assistance of Wagner, but
he was suddenly carried away by typhoid fever at the age of thirty.
Meanwhile Emil Heckel, a music publisher of Mannheim, had proposed
the formation of Wagner societies, and had organised one in Mannheim,
in June, 1871. Heckel's scheme was a sort of lottery, each member
paying five florins and being entitled to one chance in a patron's
certificate, one of which was bought for each thirty-five members.
The society was also to give concerts and to use the proceeds in
the purchase of certificates. The Wagner society plan spread,
and organisations of this kind were formed in leading cities in
Europe and America. Wagner busied himself conducting concerts and
pushing the production of his works, but the raising of the funds
proceeded very slowly. Nevertheless, on May 22, 1872, Wagner's
fifty-ninth birthday, the corner-stone of the new theatre was laid
with appropriate ceremonies. Burgomaster Muncker, from whose Life of
Wagner quotations have been made, and Frederick Feustel, a banker,
had, as the heads of a committee of the citizens, presented to Wagner
a site for the edifice. Niemann, Betz, Fräulein Lehmann, and Frau
Jachmann (née Wagner) had volunteered to sing. Vocal societies from
Leipsic and Berlin, and orchestral players from Vienna, Leipsic,
Weimar, and other cities had offered their services. And so Wagner
was able to prepare one of those ideal performances of Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony in which he delighted. The concert took place in the
old opera house of Bayreuth, and was followed by the laying of the
corner-stone. The band played the "Huldigungsmarsch," while Wagner
struck the stone three times with a hammer, and said, "Bless this
stone! May it stand long and hold firmly." King Ludwig telegraphed
his congratulations. Rain fell, and the assembly returned to the old
theatre to complete the ceremony. Musicians and singers, the Wagner
family, the composer, the burgomaster, and others were grouped on
the stage. The burgomaster delivered an address of welcome, and then
Wagner read a fervent speech. At the close of it he raised his hands
and the chorus burst into the chorale from the last scene of "Die
Meistersinger."
The air was full of hope, yet in January, 1874, Wagner had to tell
Heckel that he was about to announce to the public the complete
collapse of the Bayreuth scheme. The money could not be raised.
Once more King Ludwig came to the rescue, with a contribution of
200,000 marks. The Viceroy of Egypt gave $2,500, and 404 patron's
certificates had been sold by July, 1875. So Wagner, although he
foresaw a heavy deficit, announced that the performances would take
place in the summer of 1876.
Meanwhile he travelled about, giving concerts and supervising
performances of his older works, and adding here a little and there
a little to the sum needed for carrying out his plans. Through
Theodore Thomas he at this time received $5000 for the composition
of the "Centennial March," written for the opening of the Centennial
Exposition at Philadelphia. This is Wagner's poorest music, but he
must have been very glad to get the money, and we Americans can revel
in the trilogy and forget the march.
At length, in August of 1876, the long-awaited event took place,
and the little town of Bayreuth awoke one morning, Byron-like, to
find itself famous. The Emperors of Germany and Brazil, the King of
Bavaria, the Grand Dukes of Weimar, Baden, and Mecklenburg, Prince
Vladimir of Russia, and the Prince of Hesse; eminent musicians headed
by Franz Liszt, Camille Saint-Säens, and Edward Grieg; critics from
all countries, and supporters of Wagner from all over Europe and
even from America, crowded into the town to hear this new thing in
operatic art, this "music of the future." The enemy, too, was well
represented, and the glitter of the critical axe was seen among the
flaunting banners. The Emperor of Germany arrived on August 12th, and
was received with due ceremony. He stayed for only two of the first
series of performances, but Mr. Finck has clearly proved that he went
to Bayreuth with that intention, and was not driven away by the music
as some of Wagner's opponents have asserted.
The first performance took place on August 13. It was to begin at
5 P.M., but was postponed till 7, because the Emperor of
Brazil could not reach the city in time for the earlier hour. An
audience of wonderful composition assembled in the theatre, after
the trumpeters had blown a motive from the last scene to announce
that the performance was about to begin. The first impression of
wonder was created by the darkening of the auditorium, it being part
of Wagner's plan that the attention of the audience should thus
be centred on the stage. Then came the surprising effect of the
concealed orchestra, playing down in its pit between the stage and
the audience, the pit fancifully christened the "Mystic Gulf." Such
a rich, homogeneous instrumental tone was new to all the hearers.
The curtain rose, and the depths of the Rhine were revealed. The
audience entered a new world of operatic experience. The performance
moved smoothly, except that some of the stage mechanism was
defective. Indeed, the hitch in the passage from Scene I. to Scene
II. drove Wagner out of the theatre. After the performance there were
tumultuous calls for Wagner and the artists, but no one responded.
On the following night "Die Walküre" was given, but owing to the
indisposition of Unger, the leading tenor, "Siegfried" had to be
postponed till August 16. "Götterdämmerung" was performed on August
17. The third and fourth works of the series were on these dates
heard in public for the first time. After "Götterdämmerung" the
audience again called for the composer and the performers, and now
Wagner appeared and made a brief speech of thanks and promise for the
future. The curtains were drawn aside and all the artists were seen.
When the three series of performances had been completed there was a
banquet, at which Wagner further explained his hopes for the coming
years, and at which he paid a warm tribute of gratitude to his first
friend and helper, Liszt.
Thus was finally brought to representation the great tetralogy, on
which Wagner had worked more than a quarter of a century, and which
was, without doubt, the chief labour of his life. From 1848 his mind
had been filled with the story of "Siegfried." He had laid it aside
from time to time to produce other works, but it had been the chief
aim of his existence. Early in his labours on it he had discovered
that the narration would require the building of a tetralogy, and he
had also foreseen that a special theatre must be built. No playwright
or composer had ever before entertained such a project, and now
at last it was accomplished. The critics departed in a state of
confusion, as well they might, having been called upon to face an art
utterly unknown, and brought before them in a condition of complete
development. That their comments showed an almost total failure
to understand what Wagner had attempted was natural. If they had
understood him, they would have been men of genius themselves. Some
men of genius did understand him, and that was his highest reward.
The musical world was rent asunder with arguments for and against the
new art, but Wagner had at least lived to see one dream of his life
realised.
Some description of the Festspielhaus must be included at this point.
The theatre occupies an isolated position on a slight eminence
about fifteen minutes' walk from the town. The portion containing
the auditorium is small, and about half as high as that containing
the stage. Two stages, one above the other, are used, so that while
one scene is before the audience the other is preparing in the
cellar. This device was made known to New Yorkers in the Madison
Square Theatre, where the famous double stage of Steele Mackaye was
for a time the talk of the town. Wagner's plan was older than Mr.
Mackaye's. The Festspielhaus proscenium is extremely plain, and is
so contrived that it creates an illusion as to the distance between
the audience and the stage. No prompter's box and no footlights are
visible to the spectators. In front of the stage and running partly
under it is the pit for the orchestra, so arranged that the musicians
are wholly unseen by the audience, and the conductor is visible only
to the singers.
The auditorium itself is small and rigorously plain. The parquet
seats 1300 persons. Above the last row of seats, and extending all
the way across the rear of the auditorium, is a gallery, containing
nine boxes for the use of titled visitors. Above this gallery is
a second one containing 200 seats. The seating capacity of the
entire theatre is about 1500. The parquet seats are arranged in
easy curves, so that every person faces the stage and has a perfect
view. There are no side seats and no proscenium boxes. The sides of
the auditorium are finished with Renaissance columns; and sixteen
wide passages, eight on each side, give easy egress from the house.
There are no chandeliers. The lighting outfit of the auditorium
is just sufficient to enable the audience to find its way about.
While the performance is going on, all lights in front of the stage
are extinguished. The entire aim of the plan of this house is to
remove everything which can suggest the conventional theatre, and to
concentrate the attention of the audience on the stage.
Wagner's principal assistant in the building of this theatre was Karl
Brandt, of Darmstadt, with whom he consulted in regard to everything.
The architect, engaged on Brandt's advice, was Otto Bruckwald, of
Leipsic. The scenery for the Ring dramas was designed by Prof. Joseph
Hoffmann, of Vienna, and painted by the Brothers Brückner, of Coburg.
These are the men to whom Wagner expressed himself as especially
indebted for aid in carrying out his ideas. Of the performers engaged
in this remarkable undertaking mention will be made in the study of
the dramas, which will form a separate part of this work.
The first Bayreuth festival resulted in a deficit of $37,000. And so
Wagner, with the artistic dream of his life realised, found himself
once more the victim of monetary embarrassments. He went into Italy
for a little rest, and was received with distinction in several
cities. The violinist Wilhelmj, who had been concertmaster of the
festival orchestra, suggested that a series of concerts in London
would go far toward raising the money needed to meet the deficit.
Several of the Bayreuth singers were secured, and the concerts
were announced for May 7 to 19, 1877. Wagner conducted one half of
each concert and Richter the other half. This was the beginning of
Richter's great vogue as a conductor in London. The concerts were
a failure, and two supplementary entertainments at popular prices
were given in order to help the situation. But Wagner left London
with his affairs still in a bad condition. The London visit was
notable for the fact that on May 17 he read the poem of his new
drama, "Parsifal," to a circle of friends at the house of Edward
Dannreuther. He read the same work to German friends at Heidelberg on
July 8, while on his way back to Bayreuth.
The financial difficulties were finally solved by the disposal to
Munich of the rights of performance of the "Ring." Wagner had said
that the work really belonged to the King, who had agreed to pay
him a pension on condition that he should complete and produce the
work. The Intendant of the Munich Opera House saw in the deficit at
Bayreuth his opportunity to acquire the right to perform the work.
He agreed to pay the deficit provided the royal right to "Der Ring"
be enforced for the benefit of the Munich theatre. Wagner was obliged
to accept this solution of his difficulties, and thus Bayreuth lost
the sole right to the tetralogy. The dramas of the "Ring" now began
to be played separately, much to Wagner's displeasure, but they
grew in popularity, and the royalties were good to have. Angelo
Neumann organised his travelling Nibelung Theatre, with several of
the Bayreuth artists and Anton Seidl as conductor, and gave complete
performances, except for cuts authorised by Wagner, in many cities of
Germany and Italy. Meanwhile Wagner was engaged in completing what
was to be his last work. He had conceived it in 1865, but had found
no opportunity to do more than write the book. His health was not of
the best, and he was eager to retire to the seclusion of Wahnfried
and finish his drama. The settlement of the pecuniary troubles
arising from the first festival enabled him to carry out his project.
He was to write one more work, filled with ecstatic piety, and then
go to his rest.