PART II

1842-1850

The journey from Paris to Dresden at that time took five days and

nights. On the German frontier, near Forbach, we met with stormy

weather and snow, a greeting which seemed inhospitable after the spring

we had already enjoyed in Paris. And, indeed, as we continued our

journey through our native land once more, we found much to dishearten

us, and I could not help thinking that the Frenchmen who on leaving

Germany breathed more freely on reaching French soil, and unbuttoned

their coats, as though passing from winter into summer, were not so

very foolish after all, seeing that we, for our part, were now

compelled to seek protection against this conspicuous change of

temperature by being very careful to put on sufficient clothing. The

unkindness of the elements became perfect torture when, later on,

between Frankfort and Leipzig, we were swept into the stream of

visitors to the Great Easter Fair.

The pressure on the mail-coaches was so great, that for two days and a

night, amid ceaseless storm, snow and rain, we were continually

changing from one wretched ‘substitute’ to another, thus turning our

journey into an adventure of almost the same type as our former voyage

at sea.

One solitary flash of brightness was afforded by our view of the

Wartburg, which we passed during the only sunlit hour of this journey.

The sight of this mountain fastness, which, from the Fulda side, is

clearly visible for a long time, affected me deeply. A neighbouring

ridge further on I at once christened the Horselberg, and as we drove

through the valley, pictured to myself the scenery for the third act of

my Tannhäuser. This scene remained so vividly in my mind, that long

afterwards I was able to give Desplechin, the Parisian scene-painter,

exact details when he was working out the scenery under my direction.

If I had already been impressed by the significance of the fact that my

first journey through the German Rhine district, so famous in legend,

should have been made on my way home from Paris, it seemed an even more

ominous coincidence that my first sight of Wartburg, which was so rich

in historical and mythical associations, should come just at this

moment. The view so warmed my heart against wind and weather, Jews and

the Leipzig Fair, that in the end I arrived, on 12th April, 1842, safe

and sound, with my poor, battered, half-frozen wife, in that selfsame

city of Dresden which I had last seen on the occasion of my sad

separation from my Minna, and my departure for my northern place of

exile.

We put up at the ‘Stadt Gotha’ inn. The city, in which such momentous

years of my childhood and boyhood had been spent, seemed cold and dead

beneath the influences of the wild, gloomy weather. Indeed, everything

there that could remind me of my youth seemed dead. No hospitable house

received us. We found my wife’s parents living in cramped and dingy

lodgings in very straitened circumstances, and were obliged at once to

look about for a small abode for ourselves. This we found in the

Topfergasse for twenty-one marks a month. After paying the necessary

business visits in connection with Rienzi, and making arrangements for

Minna during my brief absence, I set out on 15th April direct for

Leipzig, where I saw my mother and family for the first time in six

years.

During this period, which had been so eventful for my own life, my

mother had undergone a great change in her domestic position through

the death of Rosalie. She was living in a pleasant roomy flat near the

Brockhaus family, where she was free from all those household cares to

which, owing to her large family, she had devoted so many years of

anxious thought. Her bustling energy, which had almost amounted to

hardness, had entirely given place to a natural cheerfulness and

interest in the family prosperity of her married daughters. For the

blissful calm of this happy old age she was mainly indebted to the

affectionate care of her son-in-law, Friedrich Brockhaus, to whom I

expressed my heartfelt thanks for his goodness. She was exceedingly

astonished and pleased to see me unexpectedly enter her room. Any

bitterness that ever existed between us had utterly vanished, and her

only complaint was that she could not put me up in her house, instead

of my brother Julius, the unfortunate goldsmith, who had none of the

qualities that could make him a suitable companion for her. She was

full of hope for the success of my undertaking, and felt this

confidence strengthened by the favourable prophecy which our dear

Rosalie had made about me shortly before her sad death.

For the present, however, I only stayed a few days in Leipzig, as I had

first to visit Berlin in order to make definite arrangements with Count

Redern for the performance of the Fliegender Holländer. As I have

already observed, I was here at once destined to learn that the Count

was on the point of retiring from the directorship, and he accordingly

referred me for all further decisions to the new director, Küstner, who

had not yet arrived in Berlin. I now suddenly realised what this

strange circumstance meant, and knew that, so far as the Berlin

negotiations went, I might as well have remained in Paris. This

impression was in the main confirmed by a visit to Meyerbeer, who, I

found, regarded my coming to Berlin as over hasty. Nevertheless, he

behaved in a kind and friendly manner, only regretting that he was just

on the point of ‘going away,’ a state in which I always found him

whenever I visited him again in Berlin.

Mendelssohn was also in the capital about this time, having been

appointed one of the General Musical Directors to the King of Prussia.

I also sought him out, having been previously introduced to him in

Leipzig. He informed me that he did not believe his work would prosper

in Berlin, and that he would rather go back to Leipzig. I made no

inquiry about the fate of the score of my great symphony performed at

Leipzig in earlier days, which I had more or less forced upon him so

many years ago. On the other hand, he did not betray to me any signs of

remembering that strange offering. In the midst of the lavish comforts

of his home he struck me as cold, yet it was not so much that he

repelled me as that I recoiled from him. I also paid a visit to

Rellstab, to whom I had a letter of introduction from his trusty

publisher, my brother-in-law Brockhaus. Here it was not so much smug

ease that I encountered; I doubtless felt repulsed more by the fact

that he showed no inclination whatever to interest himself in my

affairs.

I grew very low spirited in Berlin. I could almost have wished

Commissioner Cerf back again. Miserable as had been the time I had

spent here years before, I had then, at any rate, met one man, who, for

all the bluntness of his exterior, had treated me with true

friendliness and consideration. In vain did I try to call to mind the

Berlin through whose streets I had walked, with all the ardour of

youth, by the side of Laube. After my acquaintance with London, and

still more with Paris, this city, with its sordid spaces and

pretensions to greatness, depressed me deeply, and I breathed a hope

that, should no luck crown my life, it might at least be spent in Paris

rather than in Berlin.

On my return from this wholly fruitless expedition, I first went to

Leipzig for a few days, where, on this occasion, I stayed with my

brother-in-law, Hermann Brockhaus, who was now Professor of Oriental

Languages at the University. His family had been increased by the birth

of two daughters, and the atmosphere of unruffled content, illuminated

by mental activity and a quiet but vivid interest in all things

relating to the higher aspects of life, greatly moved my homeless and

vagabond soul. One evening, after my sister had seen to her children,

whom she had brought up very well, and had sent them with gentle words

to bed, we gathered in the large richly stocked library for our evening

meal and a long confidential chat. Here I broke out into a violent fit

of weeping, and it seemed as though the tender sister, who five years

before had known me during the bitterest straits of my early married

life in Dresden, now really understood me. At the express suggestion of

my brother-in-law Hermann, my family tendered me a loan, to help me to

tide over the time of waiting for the performance of my Rienzi in

Dresden. This, they said, they regarded merely as a duty, and assured

me that I need have no hesitation whatever in accepting it. It

consisted of a sum of six hundred marks, which was to be paid me in

monthly instalments for six months. As I had no prospect of being able

to reply on any other source of income, there was every chance of

Minna’s talent for management being put severely to the test, if this

were to carry us through; it could be done, however, and I was able to

return to Dresden with a great sense of relief.

While I was staying with my relatives I played and sang them the

Fliegender Holländer for the first time connectedly, and seemed to

arouse considerable interest by my performance, for when, later on, my

sister Louisa heard the opera in Dresden, she complained that much of

the effect previously produced by my rendering did not come back to

her. I also sought out my old friend Apel again. The poor man had gone

stone blind, but he astonished me by his cheeriness and contentment,

and thereby once and for all deprived me of any reason for pitying him.

As he declared that he knew the blue coat I was wearing very well,

though it was really a brown one, I thought it best not to argue the

point, and I left Leipzig in a state of wonder at finding every one

there so happy and contented.

When I reached Dresden, on 26th April, I found occasion to grapple more

vigorously with my lot. Here I was enlivened by closer intercourse with

the people on whom I had to rely for a successful production of Rienzi.

It is true that the results of my interviews with Lüttichau, the

general manager, and Reissiger, the musical conductor, left me cold and

incredulous. Both were sincerely astonished at my arrival in Dresden;

and the same might even be said of my frequent correspondent and

patron, Hofrath Winkler, who also would have preferred my remaining in

Paris. But, as has been my constant experience both before and since,

help and encouragement have always come to me from humbler and never

from the more exalted ranks of life.

So in this case, too, I met my first agreeable sensation in the

overwhelmingly cordial reception I received from the old chorus-master,

Wilhelm Fischer. I had had no previous acquaintance with him, yet he

was the only person who had taken the trouble to read my score

carefully, and had not only conceived serious hopes for the success of

my opera, but had worked energetically to secure its being accepted and

practised. The moment I entered his room and told him my name, he

rushed to embrace me with a loud cry, and in a second I was translated

to an atmosphere of hope. Besides this man, I met in the actor

Ferdinand Heine and his family another sure foundation for hearty and,

indeed, deep-rooted friendship. It is true that I had known him from

childhood, for at that time he was one of the few young people whom my

stepfather Geyer liked to see about him. In addition to a fairly

decided talent for drawing, it was chiefly his pleasant social gifts

that had won him an entrance into our more intimate family circle. As

he was very small and slight, my stepfather nicknamed him DavidCHEN,

and under this appellation he used to take part with great affability

and good-humour in our little festivities, and above all in our

friendly excursions into the neighbouring country, in which, as I

mentioned in its place, even Carl Maria von Weber used to join.

Belonging to the good old school, he had become a useful, if not

prominent, member of the Dresden stage. He possessed all the knowledge

and qualities for a good stage manager, but never succeeded in inducing

the committee to give him that appointment. It was only as a designer

of costumes that he found further scope for his talents, and in this

capacity he was included in the consultations over the staging of

Rienzi.

Thus it came about that he had the opportunity of busying himself with

the work of a member, now grown to man’s estate, of the very family

with whom he had spent such pleasant days in his youth. He greeted me

at once as a child of the house, and we two homeless creatures found in

our memories of this long-lost home the first common basis to our

friendship. We generally spent our evenings with old Fischer at

Heine’s, where, amid hopeful conversation, we regaled ourselves on

potatoes and herrings, of which the meal chiefly consisted.

Schroder-Devrient was away on a holiday; Tichatschek, who was also on

the point of going away, I had just time to see, and with him I went

quickly through a part of his role in Rienzi. His brisk and lively

nature, his glorious voice and great musical talent, gave special

weight to his encouraging assurance that he delighted in the role of

Rienzi. Heine also told me that the mere prospect of having many new

costumes, and especially new silver armour, had inspired Tichatschek

with the liveliest desire to play this part, so that I might rely on

him under any circumstances. Thus I could at once give closer attention

to the preparations for practice, which was fixed to begin in the late

summer, after the principal singers had returned from their holiday.

I had to make special efforts to pacify my friend Fischer by my

readiness to abbreviate the score, which was excessively lengthy. His

intentions in the matter were so honest that I gladly sat down with him

to the wearisome task. I played and sang my score to the astonished man

on an old grand piano in the rehearsing-room of the Court Theatre, with

such frantic vigour that, although he did not mind if the instrument

came to grief, he grew concerned about my chest. Finally, amid hearty

laughter, he ceased to argue about cutting down passages, as precisely

where he thought something might be omitted I proved to him with

headlong eloquence that it was precisely here that the main point lay.

He plunged with me head over heels into the vast chaos of sound,

against which he could raise no objection, beyond the testimony of his

watch, whose correctness I also ended by disputing. As sops I

light-heartedly flung him the big pantomime and most of the ballet in

the second act, whereby I reckoned we might save a whole half-hour.

Thus, thank goodness, the whole monster was at last handed over to the

clerks to make a fair copy of, and the rest was left for time to

accomplish.

We next discussed what we should do in the summer, and I decided upon a

stay of several months at Toplitz, the scene of my first youthful

flights, whose fine air and baths, I hoped, would also benefit Minna’s

health. But before we could carry out this intention I had to pay

several more visits to Leipzig to settle the fate of my Dutchman. On

5th May I proceeded thither to have an interview with Küstner, the new

director of the Berlin Opera, who I had been told had just arrived

there. He was now placed in the awkward position of being about to

produce in Berlin the very opera which he had before declined in

Munich, as it had been accepted by his predecessor in office. He

promised me to consider what steps he would take in this predicament.

In order to learn the result of Küstner’s deliberations, I determined,

on 2nd June, to seek him out, and this time in Berlin itself. But at

Leipzig I found a letter in which he begged me to wait patiently a

little longer for his final verdict. I took advantage of being in the

neighbourhood of Halle to pay a visit to my eldest brother Albert. I

was very much grieved and depressed to find the poor fellow, whom I

must give the credit of having the greatest perseverance and a quite

remarkable talent for dramatic song, living in the unworthy and mean

circumstances which the Halle Theatre offered to him and his family.

The realisation of conditions into which I myself had once nearly sunk

now filled me with indescribable abhorrence. Still more harrowing was

it to hear my brother speak of this state in tones which showed, alas,

only too plainly, the hopeless submission with which he had already

resigned himself to its horrors. The only consolation I could find was

the personality and childlike nature of his step-daughter Johanna, who

was then fifteen, and who sang me Spohr’s Rose, wie bist du so schon

with great expression and in a voice of an extraordinarily beautiful

quality.

Then I returned to Dresden, and at last, in wonderful weather,

undertook the pleasant journey to Toplitz with Minna and one of her

sisters, reaching that place on 9th June, where we took up our quarters

at a second-class inn, the Eiche, at Schonau. Here we were soon joined

by my mother, who paid her usual yearly visit to the warm baths all the

more gladly this time because she knew she would find me there. If she

had before had any prejudice against Minna because of my premature

marriage to her, a closer acquaintance with her domestic gifts soon

changed it into respect, and she quickly learned to love the partner of

my doleful days in Paris. Although my mother’s vagaries demanded no

small consideration, yet what particularly delighted me about her was

the astonishing vivacity of her almost childlike imagination, a faculty

she retained to such a degree that one morning she complained that my

relation of the Tannhäuser legend on the previous evening had given her

a whole night of pleasant but most tiring sleeplessness.

By dint of appealing letters to Schletter, a wealthy patron of art in

Leipzig, I managed to do something for Kietz, who, had remained behind

in misery in Paris, and also to provide Minna with medical treatment. I

also succeeded to a certain extent in ameliorating my own woeful

financial position. Scarcely were these tasks accomplished, when I

started off in my old boyish way on a ramble of several days on foot

through the Bohemian mountains, in order that I might mentally work out

my plan of the ‘Venusberg’ amid the pleasant associations of such a

trip. Here I took the fancy of engaging quarters in Aussig on the

romantic Schreckenstein, where for several days I occupied the little

public room, in which straw was laid down for me to sleep on at night.

I found recreation in daily ascents of the Wostrai, the highest peak in

the neighbourhood, and so keenly did the fantastic solitude quicken my

youthful spirit, that I clambered about the ruins of the Schreckenstein

the whole of one moonlit night, wrapped only in a blanket, in order

myself to provide the ghost that was lacking, and delighted myself with

the hope of scaring some passing wayfarer.

Here I drew up in my pocket-book the detailed plan of a three-act opera

on the ‘Venusberg,’ and subsequently carried out the composition of

this work in strict accordance with the sketch I then made.

One day, when climbing the Wostrai, I was astonished, on turning the

corner of a valley, to hear a merry dance tune whistled by a goatherd

perched up on a crag. I seemed immediately to stand among the chorus of

pilgrims filing past the goatherd in the valley; but I could not

afterwards recall the goatherd’s tune, so I was obliged to help myself

out of the matter in the usual way.

Enriched by these spoils, I returned to Toplitz in a wonderfully

cheerful frame of mind and robust health, but on receiving the

interesting news that Tichatschek and Schroder-Devrient were on the

point of returning, I was impelled to set off once more for Dresden. I

took this step, not so much to avoid missing any of the early

rehearsals of Rienzi, as because I wanted to prevent the management

replacing it by something else. I left Minna for a time with my mother,

and reached Dresden on 18th July.

I hired a small lodging in a queer house, since pulled down, facing the

Maximilian Avenue, and entered into a fairly lively intercourse with

our operatic stars who had just returned. My old enthusiasm for

Schroder-Devrient revived when I saw her again more frequently in

opera. Strange was the effect produced upon me when I heard her for the

first time in Gretry’s Blaubart, for I could not help remembering that

this was the first opera I had ever seen. I had been taken to it as a

boy of five (also in Dresden), and I still retained my wondrous first

impressions of it. All my earliest childish memories were revived, and

I recollected how frequently and with what emphasis I had myself sung

Bluebeard’s song: Ha, die Falsche! Die Thure offen! to the amusement of

the whole house, with a paper helmet of my own making on my head. My

friend Heine still remembered it well.

In other respects the operatic performances were not such as to impress

me very favourably: I particularly missed the rolling sound of the

fully equipped Parisian orchestra of string instruments. I also noticed

that, when opening the fine new theatre, they had quite forgotten to

increase the number of these instruments in proportion to the enlarged

space. In this, as well as in the general equipment of the stage, which

was materially deficient in many respects, I was impressed by the sense

of a certain meanness about theatrical enterprise in Germany, which

became most noticeable when reproductions were given, often with

wretched translations of the text, of the Paris opera repertoire. If

even in Paris my dissatisfaction with this treatment of opera had been

great, the feeling which once drove me thither from the German theatres

now returned with redoubled energy. I actually felt degraded again, and

nourished within my breast a contempt so deep that for a time I could

hardly endure the thought of signing a lasting contract, even with one

of the most up-to-date of German opera houses, but sadly wondered what

steps I could take to hold my ground between disgust and desire in this

strange world.

Nothing but the sympathy inspired by communion with persons endowed

with exceptional gifts enabled me to triumph over my scruples. This

statement applies above all to my great ideal, Schroder-Devrient, in

whose artistic triumphs it had once been my most burning desire to be

associated. It is true that many years had elapsed since my first

youthful impressions of her were formed. As regards her looks, the

verdict which, in the following winter, was sent to Paris by Berlioz

during his stay in Dresden, was so far correct that her somewhat

‘maternal’ stoutness was unsuited to youthful parts, especially in male

attire, which, as in Rienzi, made too great a demand upon the

imagination. Her voice, which in point of quality had never been an

exceptionally good medium for song, often landed her in difficulties,

and in particular she was forced, when singing, to drag the time a

little all through. But her achievements were less hampered now by

these material hindrances than by the fact that her repertoire

consisted of a limited number of leading parts, which she had sung so

frequently that a certain monotony in the conscious calculation of

effect often developed into a mannerism which, from her tendency to

exaggeration, was at times almost painful.

Although these defects could not escape me, yet I, more than any one,

was especially qualified to overlook such minor weaknesses, and realise

with enthusiasm the incomparable greatness of her performances. Indeed,

it only needed the stimulus of excitement, which this actress’s

exceptionally eventful life still procured, fully to restore the

creative power of her prime, a fact of which I was subsequently to

receive striking demonstrations. But I was seriously troubled and

depressed at seeing how strong was the disintegrating effect of

theatrical life upon the character of this singer, who had originally

been endowed with such great and noble qualities. From the very mouth

through which the great actress’s inspired musical utterances reached

me, I was compelled to hear at other times very similar language to

that in which, with but few exceptions, nearly all heroines of the

stage indulge. The possession of a naturally fine voice, or even mere

physical advantages, which might place her rivals on the same footing

as herself in public favour, was more than she could endure; and so far

was she from acquiring the dignified resignation worthy of a great

artist, that her jealousy increased to a painful extent as years went

on. I noticed this all the more because I had reason to suffer from it.

A fact which caused me even greater trouble, however, was that she did

not grasp music easily, and the study of a new part involved

difficulties which meant many a painful hour for the composer who had

to make her master his work. Her difficulty in learning new parts, and

particularly that of Adriano in Rienzi, entailed disappointments for

her which caused me a good deal of trouble.

If, in her case, I had to handle a great and sensitive nature very

tenderly, I had, on the other hand, a very easy task with Tichatschek,

with his childish limitations and superficial, but exceptionally

brilliant, talents. He did not trouble to learn his parts by heart, as

he was so musical that he could sing the most difficult music at sight,

and thought all further study needless, whereas with most other singers

the work consisted in mastering the score. Hence, if he sang through a

part at rehearsals often enough to impress it on his memory, the rest,

that is to say, everything pertaining to vocal art and dramatic

delivery, would follow naturally. In this way he picked up any clerical

errors there might be in the libretto, and that with such incorrigible

pertinacity, that he uttered the wrong words with just the same

expression as if they were correct. He waved aside good-humouredly any

expostulations or hints as to the sense with the remark, ‘Ah! that will

be all right soon.’ And, in fact, I very soon resigned myself and quite

gave up trying to get the singer to use his intelligence in the

interpretation of the part of the hero, for which I was very agreeably

compensated by the light-hearted enthusiasm with which he flung himself

into his congenial role, and the irresistible effect of his brilliant

voice.

With the exception of these two actors who played the leading parts, I

had only very moderate material at my disposal. But there was plenty of

goodwill, and I had recourse to an ingenious device to induce Reissiger

the conductor to hold frequent piano rehearsals. He had complained to

me of the difficulty he had always found in securing a well-written

libretto, and thought it was very sensible of me to have acquired the

habit of writing my own. In his youth he had unfortunately neglected to

do this for himself, and yet this was all he lacked to make a

successful dramatic composer. I feel bound to confess that he possessed

‘a good deal of melody’; but this, he added, did not seem sufficient to

inspire the singers with the requisite enthusiasm. His experience was

that Schroder-Devrient, in his Adele de Foix, would render very

indifferently the same final passage with which, in Bellini’s Romeo and

Juliet, she would put the audience into an ecstasy. The reason for

this, he presumed, must lie in the subject-matter. I at once promised

him that I would supply him with a libretto in which he would be able

to introduce these and similar melodies to the greatest advantage. To

this he gladly agreed, and I therefore set aside for versification, as

a suitable text for Reissiger, my Hohe Braut, founded on Konig’s

romance, which I had once before submitted to Scribe. I promised to

bring Reissiger a page of verse for every piano rehearsal, and this I

faithfully did until the whole book was done. I was much surprised to

learn some time later that Reissiger had had a new libretto written for

him by an actor named Kriethe. This was called the Wreck of the Medusa.

I then learned that the wife of the conductor, who was a suspicious

woman, had been filled with the greatest concern at my readiness to

give up a libretto to her husband. They both thought the book was good

and full of striking effects, but they suspected some sort of trap in

the background, to escape from which they must certainly exercise the

greatest caution. The result was that I regained possession of my

libretto and was able, later on, to help my old friend Kittl with it in

Prague; he set it to music of his own, and entitled it Die Franzosen

vor Nizza. I heard that it was frequently performed in Prague with

great success, though I never saw it myself; and I was also told at the

same time by a local critic that this text was a proof of my real

aptitude as a librettist, and that it was a mistake for me to devote

myself to composition. As regards my Tannhäuser, on the other hand,

Laube used to declare it was a misfortune that I had not got an

experienced dramatist to supply me with a decent text for my music.

For the time being, however, this work of versification had the desired

result, and Reissiger kept steadily to the study of Rienzi. But what

encouraged him even more than my verses was the growing interest of the

singers, and above all the genuine enthusiasm of Tichatschek. This man,

who had been so ready to leave the delights of the theatre piano for a

shooting party, now looked upon the rehearsals of Rienzi as a genuine

treat. He always attended them with radiant eyes and boisterous

good-humour. I soon felt myself in a state of constant exhilaration:

favourite passages were greeted with acclamation by the singers at

every rehearsal, and a concerted number of the third finale, which

unfortunately had afterwards to be omitted owing to its length,

actually became on that occasion a source of profit to me. For

Tichatschek maintained that this B minor was so lovely that something

ought to be paid for it every time, and he put down a silver penny,

inviting the others to do the same, to which they all responded

merrily. From that day forward, whenever we came to this passage at

rehearsals, the cry was raised, ‘Here comes the silver penny part,’ and

Schroder-Devrient, as she took out her purse, remarked that these

rehearsals would ruin her. This gratuity was conscientiously handed to

me each time, and no one suspected that these contributions, which were

given as a joke, were often a very welcome help towards defraying the

cost of our daily food. For Minna had returned from Toplitz, at the

beginning of August, accompanied by my mother.

We lived very frugally in chilly lodgings, hopefully awaiting the tardy

day of our deliverance. The months of August and September passed, in

preparation for my work, amid frequent disturbances caused by the

fluctuating and scanty repertoire of a German opera house, and not

until October did the combined rehearsals assume such a character as to

promise the certainty of a speedy production. From the very beginning

of the general rehearsals with the orchestra we all shared the

conviction that the opera would, without doubt, be a great success.

Finally, the full dress rehearsals produced a perfectly intoxicating

effect. When we tried the first scene of the second act with the

scenery complete, and the messengers of peace entered, there was a

general outburst of emotion, and even Schroder-Devrient, who was

bitterly prejudiced against her part, as it was not the role of the

heroine, could only answer my questions in a voice stifled with tears.

I believe the whole theatrical body, down to its humblest officials,

loved me as though I were a real prodigy, and I am probably not far

wrong in saying that much of this arose from sympathy and lively

fellow-feeling for a young man, whose exceptional difficulties were not

unknown to them, and who now suddenly stepped out of perfect obscurity

into splendour. During the interval at the full dress rehearsal, while

other members had dispersed to revive their jaded nerves with lunch, I

remained seated on a pile of boards on the stage, in order that no one

might realise that I was in the quandary of being unable to obtain

similar refreshment. An invalid Italian singer, who was taking a small

part in the opera, seemed to notice this, and kindly brought me a glass

of wine and a piece of bread. I was sorry that I was obliged to deprive

him of even his small part in the course of the year, for its loss

provoked such ill-treatment from his wife, that by conjugal tyranny he

was driven into the ranks of my enemies. When, after my flight from

Dresden in 1849, I learned that I had been denounced to the police by

this same singer for supposed complicity in the rising which took place

in that town, I bethought me of this breakfast during the Rienzi

rehearsal, and felt I was being punished for my ingratitude, for I knew

I was guilty of having brought him into trouble with his wife.

The frame of mind in which I looked forward to the first performance of

my work was a unique experience which I have never felt either before

or since. My kind sister Clara fully shared my feelings. She had been

living a wretched middle-class life at Chemnitz, which, just about this

time, she had left to come and share my fate in Dresden. The poor

woman, whose undoubted artistic gifts had faded so early, was

laboriously dragging out a commonplace bourgeois existence as a wife

and mother; but now, under the influence of my growing success, she

began joyously to breathe a new life. She and I and the worthy

chorus-master Fischer used to spend our evenings with the Heine family,

still over potatoes and herrings, and often in a wonderfully elated

frame of mind. The evening before our first performance I was able to

crown our happiness by myself ladling out a bowl of punch. With mingled

tears and laughter we skipped about like happy children, and then in

sleep prepared ourselves for the triumphant day to which we looked

forward with such confidence..

Although on the morning of 20th October, 1842 I had resolved not to

disturb any of my singers by a visit, yet I happened to come across one

of them, a stiff Philistine called Risse, who was playing a minor bass

part in a dull but respectable way. The day was rather cool, but

wonderfully bright and sunshiny, after the gloomy weather we had just

been having. Without a word this curious creature saluted me and then

remained standing, as though bewitched. He simply gazed into my face

with wonder and rapture, in order to find out, so he at last managed to

tell me in strange confusion, how a man looked who that very day was to

face such an exceptional fate. I smiled and reflected that it was

indeed a day of crisis, and promised him that I would soon drink a

glass with him, at the Stadt Hamburg inn, of the excellent wine he had

recommended to me with so much agitation.

No subsequent experience of mine can be compared with the sensations

which marked the day of the first production of Rienzi. At all the

first performances of my works in later days, I have been so absorbed

by an only too well-founded anxiety as to their success, that I could

neither enjoy the opera nor form any real estimate of its reception by

the public. As for my subsequent experiences at the general rehearsal

of Tristan und Isolde, this took place under such exceptional

circumstances, and its effect upon me differed so fundamentally from

that produced by the first performance of Rienzi, that no comparison

can possibly be drawn between the two.

The immediate success of Rienzi was no doubt assured beforehand. But

the emphatic way in which the audience declared their appreciation was

thus far exceptional, that in cities like Dresden the spectators are

never in a position to decide conclusively upon a work of importance on

the first night, and consequently assume an attitude of chilling

restraint towards the works of unknown authors. But this was, in the

nature of things, an exceptional case, for the numerous staff of the

theatre and the body of musicians had inundated the city beforehand

with such glowing reports of my opera, that the whole population

awaited the promised miracle in feverish expectation. I sat with Minna,

my sister Clara, and the Heine family in a pit-box, and when I try to

recall my condition during that evening, I can only picture it with all

the paraphernalia of a dream. Of real pleasure or agitation I felt none

at all: I seemed to stand quite aloof from my work; whereas the sight

of the thickly crowded auditorium agitated me so much, that I was

unable even to glance at the body of the audience, whose presence

merely affected me like some natural phenomenon—something like a

continuous downpour of rain—from which I sought shelter in the farthest

corner of my box as under a protecting roof. I was quite unconscious of

applause, and when at the end of the acts I was tempestuously called

for, I had every time to be forcibly reminded by Heine and driven on to

the stage. On the other hand, one great anxiety filled me with growing

alarm: I noticed that the first two acts had taken as long as the whole

of Freischutz, for instance. On account of its warlike calls to arms

the third act begins with an exceptional uproar, and when at its close

the clock pointed to ten, which meant that the performance had already

lasted full four hours, I became perfectly desperate. The fact that

after this act, also, I was again loudly called, I regarded merely as a

final courtesy on the part of the audience, who wished to signify that

they had had quite enough for one evening, and would now leave the

house in a body. As we had still two acts before us, I thought it

settled that we should not be able to finish the piece, and apologised

for my lack of wisdom in not having previously effected the necessary

curtailments. Now, thanks to my folly, I found myself in the unheard-of

predicament of being unable to finish an opera, otherwise extremely

well received, simply because it was absurdly long. I could only

explain the undiminished zeal of the singers, and particularly of

Tichatschek, who seemed to grow lustier and cheerier the longer it

lasted, as an amiable trick to conceal from me the inevitable

catastrophe. But my astonishment at finding the audience still there in

full muster, even in the last act—towards midnight—filled me with

imbounded perplexity. I could no longer trust my eyes or ears, and

regarded the whole events of the evening as a nightmare. It was past

midnight when, for the last time, I had to obey the thunderous calls of

the audience, side by side with my trusty singers.

My feeling of desperation at the unparalleled length of my opera was

augmented by the temper of my relatives, whom I saw for a short time

after the performance. Friedrich Brockhaus and his family had come over

with some friends from Leipzig, and had invited us to the inn, hoping

to celebrate an agreeable success over a pleasant supper, and possibly

to drink my health. But on arriving, kitchen and cellar were closed,

and every one was so worn out that nothing was to be heard but outcries

at the unparalleled case of an opera lasting from six o’clock till past

twelve. No further remarks were exchanged, and we stole away feeling

quite stupefied.

About eight the next morning I put in an appearance at the clerks’

office, in order that in case there should be a second performance I

might arrange the necessary curtailment of the parts. If, during the

previous summer, I had contested every beat with the faithful

chorus-master Fischer, and proved them all to be indispensable, I was

now possessed by a blind rage for striking out. There was not a single

part of my score which seemed any longer necessary—what the audience

had been made to swallow the previous evening now appeared but a chaos

of sheer impossibilities, each and all of which might be omitted

without the slightest damage or risk of being unintelligible. My one

thought now was how to reduce my convolution of monstrosities to decent

limits. By dint of unsparing and ruthless abbreviations handed over to

the copyist, I hoped to avert a catastrophe, for I expected nothing

less than that the general manager, together with the city and the

theatre, would that very day give me to understand that such a thing as

the performance of my Last of the Tribunes might perhaps be permitted

once as a curiosity, but not oftener. All day long, therefore, I

carefully avoided going near the theatre, so as to give time for my

heroic abbreviations to do their salutary work, and for news of them to

spread through the city. But at midday I looked in again upon the

copyists, to assure myself that all had been duly performed as I had

ordered. I then learned that Tichatschek had also been there, and,

after inspecting the omissions that I had arranged, had forbidden their

being carried out. Fischer, the chorus-master, also wished to speak to

me about them: work was suspended, and I foresaw great confusion. I

could not understand what it all meant, and feared mischief if the

arduous task were delayed. At length, towards evening, I sought out

Tichatschek at the theatre. Without giving him a chance to speak, I

brusquely asked him why he had interrupted the copyists’ work. In a

half-choked voice he curtly and defiantly rejoined, ‘I will have none

of my part cut out—it is too heavenly.’ I stared at him blankly, and

then felt as though I had been suddenly bewitched: such an unheard-of

testimony to my success could not but shake me out of my strange

anxiety. Others joined him, Fischer radiant with delight and bubbling

with laughter. Every one spoke of the enthusiastic emotion which

thrilled the whole city. Next came a letter of thanks from the

Commissioner acknowledging my splendid work. Nothing now remained for

me but to embrace Tichatschek and Fischer, and go on my way to inform

Minna and Clara how matters stood.

After a few days’ rest for the actors, the second performance took

place on 26th October, but with various curtailments, for which I had

great difficulty in obtaining Tichatschek’s consent. Although it was

still of much more than average length, I heard no particular

complaints, and at last adopted Tichatschek’s view that, if he could

stand it, so could the audience. For six performances therefore, all of

which continued to receive a similar avalanche of applause, I let the

matter run its course.

My opera, however, had also excited interest among the elder princesses

of the royal family. They thought its exhausting length a drawback, but

were nevertheless unwilling to miss any of it. Lüttichau consequently

proposed that I should give the piece at full length, but half of it at

a time on two successive evenings. This suited me very well, and after

an interval of a few weeks we announced Rienzi’s Greatness for the

first day, and His Fall for the second. The first evening we gave two

acts, and on the second three, and for the latter I composed a special

introductory prelude. This met with the entire approval of our august

patrons, and especially of the two eldest, Princesses Amalie and

Augusta. The public, on the contrary, simply regarded this in the light

of now being asked to pay two entrance fees for one opera, and

pronounced the new arrangement a decided fraud. Its annoyance at the

change was so great that it actually threatened to be fatal to the

attendance, and after three performances of the divided Rienzi the

management was obliged to go back to the old arrangement, which I

willingly made possible by introducing my cuttings again.

From this time forward the piece used to fill the house to overflowing

as often as it could be presented, and the permanence of its success

became still more obvious when I began to realise the envy it drew upon

me from many different quarters. My first experience of this was truly

painful, and came from the hands of the poet, Julius Mosen, on the very

day after the first performance. When I first reached Dresden in the

summer I had sought him out, and, having a really high opinion of his

talent, our intercourse soon became more intimate, and was the means of

giving me much pleasure and instruction. He had shown me a volume of

his plays, which on the whole appealed to me exceptionally. Among these

was a tragedy, Cola Rienzi, dealing with the same subject as my opera,

and in a manner partly new to me, and which I thought effective. With

reference to this poem, I had begged him to take no notice of my

libretto, as in the quality of its poetry it could not possibly bear

comparison with his own; and it cost him little sacrifice to grant the

request. It happened that just before the first performance of my

Rienzi, he had produced in Dresden Bernhard von Weimar, one of his

least happy pieces, the result of which had brought him little

pleasure. Dramatically it was a thing with no life in it, aiming only

at political harangue, and had shared the inevitable fate of all such

aberrations. He had therefore awaited the appearance of my Rienzi with

some vexation, and confessed to me his bitter chagrin at not being able

to procure the acceptance of his tragedy of the same name in Dresden.

This, he presumed, arose from its somewhat pronounced political

tendency, which, certainly in a spoken play on a similar subject, would

be more noticeable than in an opera, where from the very start no one

pays any heed to the words. I had genially confirmed him in this

depreciation of the subject matter in opera; and was therefore the more

startled when, on finding him at my sister Louisa’s the day after the

first performance, he straightway overwhelmed me with a scornful

outburst of irritation at my success. But he found in me a strange

sense of the essential unreality in opera of such a subject as that

which I had just illustrated with so much success in Rienzi, so that,

oppressed by a secret sense of shame, I had no serious rejoinder to

offer to his candidly poisonous abuse. My line of defence was not yet

sufficiently clear in my own mind to be available offhand, nor was it

yet backed by so obvious a product of my own peculiar genius that I

could venture to quote it. Moreover, my first impulse was only one of

pity for the unlucky playwright, which I felt all the more constrained

to express, because his burst of fury gave me the inward satisfaction

of knowing that he recognised my great success, of which I was not yet

quite clear myself.

But this first performance of Rienzi did far more than this. It gave

occasion for controversy, and made an ever-widening breach between

myself and the newspaper critics. Herr Karl Bank, who for some time had

been the chief musical critic in Dresden, had been known to me before

at Magdeburg, where he once visited me and listened with delight to my

playing of several fairly long passages from my Liebesverbot. When we

met again in Dresden, this man could not forgive me for having been

unable to procure him tickets for the first performance of Rienzi. The

same thing happened with a certain Herr Julius Schladebach, who

likewise settled in Dresden about that time as a critic. Though I was

always anxious to be gracious to everybody, yet I felt just then an

invincible repugnance for showing special deference to any man because

he was a critic. As time went on, I carried this rule to the point of

almost systematic rudeness, and was consequently all my life through

the victim of unprecedented persecution from the press. As yet,

however, this ill-will had not become pronounced, for at that time

journalism had not begun to give itself airs in Dresden. There were so

few contributions sent from there to the outside press that our

artistic doings excited very little notice elsewhere, a fact which was

certainly not without its disadvantages for me. Thus for the present

the unpleasant side of my success scarcely affected me at all, and for

a brief space I felt myself, for the first and only time in my life, so

pleasantly borne along on the breath of general good-will, that all my

former troubles seemed amply requited.

For further and quite unexpected fruits of my success now appeared with

astonishing rapidity, though not so much in the form of material

profit, which for the present resolved itself into nine hundred marks,

paid me by the General Board as an exceptional fee instead of the usual

twenty golden louis. Nor did I dare to cherish the hope of selling my

work advantageously to a publisher, until it had been performed in some

other important towns. But fate willed it, that by the sudden death of

Rastrelli, royal director of music, which occurred shortly after the

first production of Rienzi, an office should unexpectedly become

vacant, for the filling of which all eyes at once turned to me.

While the negotiations over this matter were slowly proceeding, the

General Board gave proof in another direction of an almost passionate

interest in my talents. They insisted that the first performance of the

Fliegender Holländer should on no account be conceded to the Berlin

opera, but reserved as an honour for Dresden. As the Berlin authorities

raised no obstacle, I very gladly handed over my latest work also to

the Dresden theatre. If in this I had to dispense with Tichatschek’s

assistance, as there was no leading tenor part in the play, I could

count all the more surely on the helpful co-operation of

Schroder-Devrient, to whom a worthier task was assigned in the leading

female part than that which she had had in Rienzi. I was glad to be

able thus to rely entirely upon her, as she had grown strangely out of

humour with me, owing to her scanty share in the success of Rienzi. The

completeness of my faith in her I proved with an exaggeration by no

means advantageous to my own work, by simply forcing the leading male

part on Wachter, a once capable, but now somewhat delicate baritone. He

was in every respect wholly unsuited to the task, and only accepted it

with unfeigned hesitation. On submitting my play to my adored prima

donna, I was much relieved to find that its poetry made a special

appeal to her. Thanks to the genuine personal interest awakened in me

under very peculiar circumstances by the character and fate of this

exceptional woman, our study of the part of Senta, which often brought

us into close contact, became one of the most thrilling and momentously

instructive periods of my life.

It is true that the great actress, especially when under the influence

of her famous mother, Sophie Schroder, who was just then with her on a

visit, showed undisguised vexation at my having composed so brilliant a

work as Rienzi for Dresden without having specifically reserved the

principal part for her. Yet the magnanimity of her disposition

triumphed even over this selfish impulse: she loudly proclaimed me ‘a

genius,’ and honoured me with that special confidence which, she said,

none but a genius should enjoy. But when she invited me to become both

the accomplice and adviser in her really dreadful love affairs, this

confidence certainly began to have its risky side; nevertheless there

were at first occasions on which she openly proclaimed herself before

all the world as my friend, making most flattering distinctions in my

favour.

First of all I had to accompany her on a trip to Leipzig, where she was

giving a concert for her mother’s benefit, which she thought to make

particularly attractive by including in its programme two selections

from Rienzi—the aria of Adriano and the hero’s prayer (the latter sung

by Tichatschek), and both under my personal conductorship. Mendelssohn,

who was also on very friendly terms with her, had been enticed to this

concert too, and produced his overture to Ruy Blas, then quite new. It

was during the two busy days spent on this occasion in Leipzig that I

first came into close contact with him, all my previous knowledge of

him having been limited to a few rare and altogether profitless visits.

At the house of my brother-in-law, Fritz Brockhaus, he and Devrient

gave us a good deal of music, he playing her accompaniment to a number

of Schubert’s songs. I here became conscious of the peculiar unrest and

excitement with which this master of music, who, though still young,

had already reached the zenith of his fame and life’s work, observed or

rather watched me. I could see clearly that he thought but little of a

success in opera, and that merely in Dresden. Doubtless I seemed in his

eyes one of a class of musicians to whom he attached no value, and with

whom he proposed to have no intercourse. Nevertheless my success had

certain characteristic features, which gave it a more or less alarming

aspect. Mendelssohn’s most ardent desire for a long time past had been

to write a successful opera, and it was possible he now felt annoyed

that, before he had succeeded in doing so, a triumph of this nature

should suddenly be thrust into his face with blunt brutality, and based

upon a style of music which he might feel justified in regarding as

poor. He probably found it no less exasperating that Devrient, whose

gifts he acknowledged, and who was his own devoted admirer, should now

so openly and loudly sound my praises. These thoughts were dimly

shaping themselves in my mind, when Mendelssohn, by a very remarkable

statement, drove me, almost with violence, to adopt this

interpretation. On our way home together, after the joint concert

rehearsal, I was talking very warmly on the subject of music. Although

by no means a talkative man, he suddenly interrupted me with curiously

hasty excitement by the assertion that music had but one great fault,

namely, that more than any other art it stimulated not only our good,

but also our evil qualities, such, for instance, as jealousy. I blushed

with shame to have to apply this speech to his own feelings towards me;

for I was profoundly conscious of my innocence of ever having dreamed,

even in the remotest degree, of placing my own talents or performances

as a musician in comparison with his. Yet, strange to say, at this very

concert he showed himself in a light by no means calculated to place

him beyond all possibility of comparison with myself. A rendering of

his Hebrides Overture would have placed him so immeasurably above my

two operatic airs, that all shyness at having to stand beside him would

have been spared me, as the gulf between our two productions was

impassable. But in his choice of the Ruy Blas Overture he appears to

have been prompted by a desire to place himself on this occasion so

close to the operatic style that its effectiveness might be reflected

upon his own work. The overture was evidently calculated for a Parisian

audience, and the astonishment Mendelssohn caused by appearing in such

a connection was shown by Robert Schumann in his own ungainly fashion

at its close. Approaching the musician in the orchestra, he blandly,

and with a genial smile, expressed his admiration of the ‘brilliant

orchestral piece’ just played..

But in the interests of veracity let me not forget that neither he nor

I scored the real success of that evening. We were both wholly eclipsed

by the tremendous effect produced by the grey-haired Sophie Schroder in

a recitation of Burger’s Lenore. While the daughter had been taunted in

the newspapers with unfairly employing all sorts of musical attractions

to cozen a benefit concert out of the music lovers of Leipzig for a

mother who never had anything to do with that art, we, who were there

as her musical aiders and abettors, had to stand like so many idle

conjurers, while this aged and almost toothless dame declaimed Burger’s

poem with truly terrifying beauty and grandeur. This episode, like so

much else that I saw during these few days, gave me abundant food for

thought and meditation.

A second excursion, also undertaken with Devrient, took me in the

December of that year to Berlin, where the singer had been invited to

appear at a grand state concert. I for my part wanted an interview with

Director Küstner about the Fliegender Holländer. Although I arrived at

no definite result regarding my own personal business, this short visit

to Berlin was memorable for my meeting with Franz Liszt, which

afterwards proved of great importance. It took place under singular

circumstances, which placed both him and me in a situation of peculiar

embarrassment, brought about in the most wanton fashion by Devrient’s

exasperating caprice.

I had already told my patroness the story of my earlier meeting with

Liszt. During that fateful second winter of my stay in Paris, when I

had at last been driven to be grateful for Schlesinger’s hack-work, I

one day received word from Laube, who always bore me in mind, that F.

Liszt was coming to Paris. He had mentioned and recommended me to him

when he was in Germany, and advised me to lose no time in looking him

up, as he was ‘generous,’ and would certainly find means of helping me.

As soon as I heard that he had really arrived, I presented myself at

the hotel to see him. It was early in the morning. On my entrance I

found several strange gentlemen waiting in the drawing-room, where,

after some time, we were joined by Liszt himself, pleasant and affable,

and wearing his indoor coat. The conversation was carried on in French,

and turned upon his experiences during his last professional journey in

Hungary. As I was unable to take part, on account of the language, I

listened for some time, feeling heartily bored, until at last he asked

me pleasantly what he could do for me. He seemed unable to recall

Laube’s recommendation, and all the answer I could give was that I

desired to make his acquaintance. To this he had evidently no

objection, and informed me he would take care to have a ticket sent me

for his great matinee, which was to take place shortly. My sole attempt

to introduce an artistic theme of conversation was a question as to

whether he knew Lowe’s Erlkonig as well as Schubert’s. His reply in the

negative frustrated this somewhat awkward attempt, and I ended my visit

by giving him my address. Thither his secretary, Belloni, presently

sent me, with a few polite words, a card of admission to a concert to

be given entirely by the master himself in the Salle Erard. I duly

wended my way to the overcrowded hall, and beheld the platform on which

the grand piano stood, closely beleaguered by the cream of Parisian

female society, and witnessed their enthusiastic ovations of this

virtuoso, who was at that time the wonder of the world. Moreover, I

heard several of his most brilliant pieces, such as ‘Variations on

Robert le Diable,’ but carried away with me no real impression beyond

that of being stunned. This took place just at the time when I

abandoned a path which had been contrary to my truer nature, and had

led me astray, and on which I now emphatically turned my back in silent

bitterness. I was therefore in no fitting mood for a just appreciation

of this prodigy, who at that time was shining in the blazing light of

day, but from whom I had turned my face to the night. I went to see

Liszt no more.

As already mentioned, I had given Devrient a bare outline of this

story, but she had noted it with particular attention, for I happened

to have touched her weak point of professional jealousy. As Liszt had

also been commanded by the King of Prussia to appear at the grand state

concert at Berlin, it so happened that the first time they met Liszt

questioned her with great interest about the success of Rienzi. She

thereupon observed that the composer of that opera was an altogether

unknown man, and proceeded with curious malice to taunt him with his

apparent lack of penetration, as proved by the fact that the said

composer, who now so keenly excited his interest, was the very same

poor musician whom he had lately ‘turned away so contemptuously’ in

Paris. All this she told me with an air of triumph, which distressed me

very much, and I at once set to work to correct the false impression

conveyed by my former account. As we were still debating this point in

her room, we were startled by hearing from the next the famous bass

part in the ‘Revenge’ air from Donna Anna, rapidly executed in octaves

on the piano. ‘That’s Liszt himself,’ she cried. Liszt then entered the

room to fetch her for the rehearsal. To my great embarrassment she

introduced me to him with malicious delight as the composer of Rienzi,

the man whose acquaintance he now wished to make after having

previously shown him the door in his glorious Paris. My solemn

asseverations that my patroness—no doubt only in fun—was deliberately

distorting my account of my former visit to him, apparently pacified

him so far as I was concerned, and, on the other hand, he had no doubt

already formed his own opinion of the impulsive singer. He certainly

regretted that he could not remember my visit in Paris, but it

nevertheless shocked and alarmed him to learn that any one should have

had reason to complain of such treatment at his hands. The hearty

sincerity of Listz’s simple words to me about this misunderstanding, as

contrasted with the strangely passionate raillery of the incorrigible

lady, made a most pleasing and captivating impression upon me. The

whole bearing of the man, and the way in which he tried to ward off the

pitiless scorn of her attacks, was something new to me, and gave me a

deep insight into his character, so firm in its amiability and

boundless good-nature. Finally, she teased him about the Doctor’s

degree which had just been conferred on him by the University of

Königsberg, and pretended to mistake him for a chemist. At last he

stretched himself out flat on the floor, and implored her mercy,

declaring himself quite defenceless against the storm of her invective.

Then turning to me with a hearty assurance that he would make it his

business to hear Rienzi, and would in any case endeavour to give me a

better opinion of himself than his evil star had hitherto permitted, we

parted for that occasion.

The almost naive simplicity and naturalness of his every phrase and

word, and particularly his emphatic manner, left a most profound

impression upon me. No one could fail to be equally affected by these

qualities, and I now realised for the first time the almost magic power

exerted by Liszt over all who came in close contact with him, and saw

how erroneous had been my former opinion as to its cause.

These two excursions to Leipzig and Berlin found but brief

interruptions of the period devoted at home to our study of the

Fliegender Holländer. It was therefore, of paramount importance to me

to maintain Schroder-Devrient’s keen interest in her part, since, in

view of the weakness of the rest of the cast, I was convinced that it

was from her alone I could expect any adequate interpretation of the

spirit of my work.

The part of Senta was essentially suited to her, and there were just at

that moment peculiar circumstances in her life which brought her

naturally emotional temperament to a high pitch of tension. I was

amazed when she confided to me that she was on the point of breaking

off a regular liaison of many years’ standing, to form, in passionate

haste, another much less desirable one. The forsaken lover, who was

tenderly devoted to her, was a young lieutenant in the Royal Guards,

and the son of Muller, the ex-Minister of Education; her new choice,

whose acquaintance she had formed on a recent visit to Berlin, was Herr

von Munchhausen. He was a tall, slim young man, and her predilection

for him was easily explained when I became more closely acquainted with

her love affairs. It seemed to me that the bestowal of her confidence

on me in this matter arose from her guilty conscience; she was aware

that Muller, whom I liked on account of his excellent disposition, had

loved her with the earnestness of a first love, and also that she was

now betraying him in the most faithless way on a trivial pretext. She

must have known that her new lover was entirely unworthy of her, and

that his intentions were frivolous and selfish. She knew, too, that no

one, and certainly none of her older friends who knew her best, would

approve of her behaviour. She told me candidly that she had felt

impelled to confide in me because I was a genius, and would understand

the demands of her temperament. I hardly knew what to think. I was

repelled alike by her passion and the circumstances attending it; but

to my astonishment I had to confess that the infatuation, so repulsive

to me, held this strange woman in so powerful a grasp that I could not

refuse her a certain amount of pity, nay, even real sympathy.

She was pale and distraught, ate hardly anything, and her faculties

were subjected to a strain so extraordinary that I thought she would

not escape a serious, perhaps a fatal illness. Sleep had long since

deserted her, and whenever I brought her my unlucky Fliegender

Holländer, her looks so alarmed me that the proposed rehearsal was the

last thing I thought of. But in this matter she insisted; she made me

sit down at the piano, and then plunged into the study of her role as

if it were a matter of life and death. She found the actual learning of

the part very difficult, and it was only by repeated and persevering

rehearsal that she mastered her task. She would sing for hours at a

time with such passion that I often sprang up in terror and begged her

to spare herself; then she would point smiling to her chest, and expand

the muscles of her still magnificent person, to assure me that she was

doing herself no harm. Her voice really acquired at that time a

youthful freshness and power of endurance. I had to confess that which

often astonished me: this infatuation for an insipid nobody was very

much to the advantage of my Senta. Her courage under this intense

strain was so great that, as time pressed, she consented to have the

general rehearsal on the very day of the first performance, and a delay

which would have been greatly to my disadvantage was thus avoided.

The performance took place on 2nd January, in the year 1843. Its result

was extremely instructive to me, and led to the turning-point of my

career. The ill-success of the performance taught me how much care and

forethought were essential to secure the adequate dramatic

interpretation of my latest works. I realised that I had more or less

believed that my score would explain itself, and that my singers would

arrive at the right interpretation of their own accord. My good old

friend Wachter, who at the time of Henriette Sontag’s first success was

a favourite ‘Barber of Seville,’ had from the first discreetly thought

otherwise. Unfortunately, even Schroder-Devrient only saw when the

rehearsals were too far advanced how utterly incapable Wachter was of

realising the horror and supreme suffering of my Mariner. His

distressing corpulence, his broad fat face, the extraordinary movements

of his arms and legs, which he managed to make look like mere stumps,

drove my passionate Senta to despair. At one rehearsal, when in the

great scene in Act ii. she comes to him in the guise of a guardian

angel to bring the message of salvation, she broke off to whisper

despairingly in my ear, ‘How can I say it when I look into those beady

eyes? Good God, Wagner, what a muddle you have made!’ I consoled her as

well as I could, and secretly placed my dependence on Herr von

Munchhausen, who promised faithfully to sit that evening in the front

row of the stalls, so that Devrient’s eyes must fall on him. And the

magnificent performance of my great artiste, although she stood

horribly alone on the stage, did succeed in rousing enthusiasm in the

second act. The first act offered the audience nothing but a dull

conversation between Herr Wachter and that Herr Risse who had invited

me to an excellent glass of wine on the first night of Rienzi, and in

the third the loudest raging of the orchestra did not rouse the sea

from its dead calm nor the phantom ship in its cautious rocking. The

audience fell to wondering how I could have produced this crude,

meagre, and gloomy work after Rienzi, in every act of which incident

abounded, and Tichatschek shone in an endless variety of costumes.

As Schroder-Devrient soon left Dresden for a considerable time, the

Fliegender Holländer saw only four performances, at which the

diminishing audiences made it plain that I had not pleased Dresden

taste with it. The management was compelled to revive Rienzi in order

to maintain my prestige; and the triumph of this opera compared with

the failure of the Dutchman gave me food for reflection. I had to

admit, with some misgivings, that the success of my Rienzi was not

entirely due to the cast and staging, although I was fully alive to the

defects from which the Fliegender Holländer suffered in this respect.

Although Wachter was far from realising my conception of the Fliegender

Holländer I could not conceal from myself the fact that Tichatschek was

quite as far removed from the ideal Rienzi. His abominable errors and

deficiencies in his presentation of the part had never escaped me; he

had never been able to lay aside his brilliant and heroic leading-tenor

manners in order to render that gloomy demonic strain in Rienzi’s

temperament on which I had laid unmistakable stress at the critical

points of the drama. In the fourth act, after the pronouncement of the

curse, he fell on his knees in the most melancholy fashion and

abandoned himself to bewailing his fate in piteous tones. When I

suggested to him that Rienzi, though inwardly despairing, must take up

an attitude of statuesque firmness before the world, he pointed out to

me the great popularity which the end of this very act had won as

interpreted by himself, with an intimation that he intended making no

change in it.

And when I considered the real causes of the success of Rienzi, I found

that it rested on the brilliant and extraordinarily fresh voice of the

soaring, happy singer, in the refreshing effect of the chorus and the

gay movement and colouring on the stage. I received a still more

convincing proof of this when we divided the opera into two, and found

that the second part, which was the more important from both the

dramatic and the musical point of view, was noticeably less well

attended than the first, for the very obvious reason, as I thought,

that the ballet occurred in the first part. My brother Julius, who had

come over from Leipzig for one of the performances of Rienzi, gave me a

still more naive testimony as to the real point of interest in the

opera. I was sitting with him in an open box, in full sight of the

audience, and had therefore begged him to desist from giving any

applause, even if directed only to the efforts of the singers; he

restrained himself all through the evening, but his enthusiasm at a

certain figure of the ballet was too much for him, and he clapped

loudly, to the great amusement of the audience, telling me that he

could not hold himself in any longer. Curiously enough, this same

ballet secured for Rienzi, which was otherwise received with

indifference, the enduring preference of the present King of

Prussia,[11] who many years afterwards ordered the revival of this

opera, although it had utterly failed in arousing public interest by

its merits as a drama.

[11] William the First.

I found, when I had to be present later on at a representation of the

same opera at Darmstadt, that while wholesale cuts had to be made in

its best parts, it had been found necessary to expand the ballets by

additions and repetitions. This ballet music, which I had put together

with contemptuous haste at Riga in a few days without any inspiration,

seemed to me, moreover, so strikingly weak that I was thoroughly

ashamed of it even in those days at Dresden, when I had found myself

compelled to suppress its best feature, the tragic pantomime. Further,

the resources of the ballet in Dresden did not even admit of the

execution of my stage directions for the combat in the arena, nor for

the very significant round dances, both admirably carried out at a

later date in Berlin. I had to be content with the humiliating

substitution of a long, foolish step-dance by two insignificant

dancers, which was ended by a company of soldiers marching on, bearing

their shields on high so as to form a roof and remind the audience of

the Roman testudo; then the ballet-master with his assistant, in

flesh-coloured tights, leaped on to the shields and turned somersaults,

a proceeding which they thought was reminiscent of the gladiatorial

games. It was at this point that the house was always moved to

resounding applause, and I had to own that this moment marked the

climax of my success.

I thus had my doubts as to the intrinsic divergence between my inner

aims and my outward success; at the same time a decisive and fatal

change in my fortunes was brought about by my acceptance of the

conductorship at Dresden, under circumstances as perplexing in their

way as those preceding my marriage. I had met the negotiations which

led up to this appointment with a hesitation and a coolness by no means

affected. I felt nothing but scorn for theatrical life; a scorn that

was by no means lessened by a closer acquaintance with the apparently

distinguished ruling body of a court theatre, the splendours of which

only conceal, with arrogant ignorance, the humiliating conditions

appertaining to it and to the modern theatre in general. I saw every

noble impulse stifled in those occupied with theatrical matters, and a

combination of the vainest and most frivolous interests maintained by a

ridiculously rigid and bureaucratic system; I was now fully convinced

that the necessity of handling the business of the theatre would be the

most distasteful thing I could imagine. Now that, through Rastrelli’s

death, the temptation to be false to my inner conviction came to me in

Dresden, I explained to my old and trusted friends that I did not think

I should accept the vacant post.

But everything calculated to shake human resolution combined against

this decision. The prospect of securing the means of livelihood through

a permanent position with a fixed salary was an irresistible

attraction. I combated the temptation by reminding myself of my success

as an operatic composer, which might reasonably be expected to bring in

enough to supply my moderate requirements in a lodging of two rooms,

where I could proceed undisturbed with fresh compositions. I was told

in answer to this that my work itself would be better served by a fixed

position without arduous duties, as for a whole year since the

completion of the Fliegender Holländer I had not, under existing

circumstances, found any leisure at all for composition. I still

remained convinced that Rastrelli’s post of musical director, in

subordination to the conductor, was unworthy of me, and I declined to

entertain the proposal, thus leaving the management to look elsewhere

for some one to fill the vacancy.

There was therefore no further question of this particular post, but I

was then informed that the death of Morlacchi had left vacant a court

conductorship, and it was thought that the King would be willing to

offer me the post. My wife was very much excited at this prospect, for

in Germany the greatest value is laid on these court appointments,

which are tenable for life, and the dazzling respectability pertaining

to them is held out to German musicians as the acme of earthly

happiness. The offer opened up for us in many directions the prospect

of friendly relations in a society which had hitherto been outside our

experience. Domestic comfort and social prestige were very alluring to

the homeless wanderers who, in bygone days of misery, had often longed

for the comfort and security of an assured and permanent position such

as was now open to them under the august protection of the court. The

influence of Caroline von Weber did much in the long-run to weaken my

opposition. I was often at her house, and took great pleasure in her

society, which brought back to my mind very vividly the personality of

my still dearly beloved master. She begged me with really touching

tenderness not to withstand this obvious command of fate, and asserted

her right to ask me to settle in Dresden, to fill the place left sadly

empty by her husband’s death. ‘Just think,’ she said, ‘how can I look

Weber in the face again when I join him if I have to tell him that the

work for which he made such devoted sacrifices in Dresden is neglected;

just imagine my feelings when I see that indolent Reissiger stand in my

noble Weber’s place, and when I hear his operas produced more

mechanically every year. If you loved Weber, you owe it to his memory

to step into his place and to continue his work.’ As an experienced

woman of the world she also pointed out energetically and prudently the

practical side of the matter, impressing on me the duty of thinking of

my wife, who would, in case of my death, be sufficiently provided for

if I accepted the post.

The promptings of affection, prudence and good sense, however, had less

weight with me than the enthusiastic conviction, never at any period of

my life entirely destroyed, that wherever fate led me, whether to

Dresden or elsewhere, I should find the opportunity which would convert

my dreams into reality through currents set in motion by some change in

the everyday order of events. All that was needed for this was the

advent of an ardent and aspiring soul who, with good luck to back him,

might make up for lost time, and by his ennobling influence achieve the

deliverance of art from her shameful bonds. The wonderful and rapid

change which had taken place in my fortunes could not fail to encourage

such a hope, and I was seduced on perceiving the marked alteration that

had taken place in the whole attitude of Lüttichau, the general

director, towards me. This strange individual showed me a kindliness of

which no one would hitherto have thought him capable, and that he was

prompted by a genuine feeling of personal benevolence towards me I

could not help being absolutely convinced, even at the time of my

subsequent ceaseless differences with him.

Nevertheless, the decision came as a kind of surprise. On 2nd February

1843 I was very politely invited to the director’s office, and there

met the general staff of the royal orchestra, in whose presence

Lüttichau, through the medium of my never-to-be-forgotten friend

Winkler, solemnly read out to me a royal rescript appointing me

forthwith conductor to his Majesty, with a life salary of four thousand

five hundred marks a year. Lüttichau followed the reading of this

document by a more or less ceremonious speech, in which he assumed that

I should gratefully accept the King’s favour. At this polite ceremony

it did not escape my notice that all possibility of future negotiations

over the figure of the salary was cut off; on the other hand, a

substantial exemption in my favour, the omission of the condition,

enforced even on Weber in his time, of serving a year’s probation under

the title of mere musical director, was calculated to secure my

unconditional acceptance. My new colleagues congratulated me, and

Lüttichau accompanied me with the politest phrases to my own door,

where I fell into the arms of my poor wife, who was giddy with delight.

Therefore I fully realised that I must put the best face I could on the

matter, and unless I wished to give unheard-of offence, I must even

congratulate myself on my appointment as royal conductor.

A few days after taking the oath as a servant of the King in solemn

session, and undergoing the ceremony of presentation to the assembled

orchestra by means of an enthusiastic speech from the general director,

I was summoned to an audience with his Majesty. When I saw the features

of the kind, courteous, and homely monarch, I involuntarily thought of

my youthful attempt at a political overture on the theme of Friedrich

und Freiheit. Our somewhat embarrassed conversation brightened with the

King’s expression of his satisfaction with those two of my operas which

had been performed in Dresden. He expressed with polite hesitation his

feeling that if my operas left anything to be desired, it was a clearer

definition of the various characters in my musical dramas. He thought

the interest in the persons was overpowered by the elemental forces

figuring beside them—in Hienzi the mob, in the Fliegender Holländer the

sea. I thought I understood his meaning perfectly, and this proof of

his sincere sympathy and original judgment pleased me very much. He

also made his excuses in advance for a possible rare attendance at my

operas on his part, his sole reason for this being that he had a

peculiar aversion from theatre-going, as the result of one of the rules

of his early training, under which he and his brother John, who had

acquired a similar aversion, were for a long time compelled regularly

to attend the theatre, when he, to tell the truth, would often have

preferred to be left alone to follow his own pursuits independent of

etiquette.

As a characteristic instance of the courtier spirit, I afterwards

learned that Lüttichau, who had had to wait for me in the anteroom

during this audience, had been very much put out by its long duration.

In the whole course of my life I was only admitted twice more to

personal intercourse and speech with the good King. The first occasion

was when I presented him with the dedication copy of the pianoforte

score of my Rienzi; and the second was after my very successful

arrangement and performance of the Iphigenia in Aulis, by Gluck, of

whose operas he was particularly fond, when he stopped me in the public

promenade and congratulated me on my work.

That first audience with the King marked the zenith of my hastily

adopted career at Dresden; thenceforward anxiety reasserted itself in

manifold ways. I very quickly realised the difficulties of my material

situation, since it soon became evident that the advantage won by new

exertions and my present appointment bore no proportion to the heavy

sacrifices and obligations which I incurred as soon as I entered on an

independent career. The young musical director of Riga, long since

forgotten, suddenly reappeared in an astonishing reincarnation as royal

conductor to the King of Saxony. The first-fruits of the universal

estimate of my good fortune took the shape of pressing creditors and

threats of prosecution; next followed demands from the Königsberg

tradesmen, from whom I had escaped from Riga by means of that horribly

wretched and miserable flight. I also heard from people in the most

distant parts, who thought they had some claim on me, dating even from

my student, nay, my school days, until at last I cried out in my

astonishment that I expected to receive a bill next from the nurse who

had suckled me. All this did not amount to any very large sum, and I

merely mention it because of the ill-natured rumours which, I learned

years later, had been spread abroad about the extent of my debts at

that time. Out of three thousand marks, borrowed at interest from

Schroder-Devrient, I not only paid these debts, but also fully

compensated the sacrifices which Kietz had made on my behalf, without

ever expecting any return, in the days of my poverty in Paris. I was,

moreover, able to be of practical use to him. But where was I to find

even this sum, as my distress had hitherto been so great that I was

obliged to urge Schroder-Devrient to hurry on the rehearsals of the

Fliegender Holländer by pointing out to her the enormous importance to

me of the fee for the performance? I had no allowance for the expenses

of my establishment in Dresden, though it had to be suitable for my

position as royal conductor, nor even for the purchase of a ridiculous

and expensive court uniform, so that there would have been no

possibility of my making a start at all, as I had no private means,

unless I borrowed money at interest.

But no one who knew of the extraordinary success of Rienzi at Dresden

could help believing in an immediate and remunerative rage for my

operas on the German stage. My own relatives, even the prudent Ottilie,

were so convinced of it that they thought I might safely count on at

least doubling my salary by the receipts from my operas. At the very

beginning the prospects did indeed seem bright; the score of my

Fliegender Holländer was ordered by the Royal Theatre at Cassel and by

the Riga theatre, which I had known so well in the old days, because

they were anxious to perform something of mine at an early date, and

had heard that this opera was on a smaller scale, and made smaller

demands on the stage management, than Rienzi. In May, 1843 I heard good

reports of the success of the performances from both those places. But

this was all for the time being, and a whole year went by without the

smallest inquiry for any of my scores. An attempt was made to secure me

some benefit by the publication of the pianoforte score of the

Fliegender Holländer, as I wanted to reserve Rienzi, after the

successes it had gained, as useful capital for a more favourable

opportunity; but the plan was spoilt by the opposition of Messrs.

Hartel of Leipzig, who, although ready enough to publish my opera,

would only do so on the condition that I abstained from asking any

payment for it.

So I had, for the present, to content myself with the moral

satisfaction of my successes, of which my unmistakable popularity with

the Dresden public, and the respect and attention paid to me, formed

part. But even in this respect my Utopian dreams were destined to be

disturbed. I think that my appearance at Dresden marked the beginning

of a new era in journalism and criticism, which found food for its

hitherto but slightly developed vitality in its vexation at my success.

The two gentlemen I have already mentioned, C. Bank and J. Schladebach,

had, as I now know, first taken up their regular abode in Dresden at

that time; I know that when difficulties were raised about the

permanence of Bank’s appointment, they were waived, owing to the

testimonials and recommendation of my present colleague Reissiger. The

success of my Rienzi had been the source of great annoyance to these

gentlemen, who were now established as musical critics to the Dresden

press, because I made no effort to win their favour; they were not

ill-pleased, therefore, to find an opportunity of pouring out the

vitriol of their hatred over the universally popular young musician who

had won the sympathy of the kindly public, partly on account of the

poverty and ill-luck which had hitherto been his lot. The need for any

kind of human consideration had suddenly vanished with my ‘unheard-of’

appointment to the royal conductorship. Now ‘all was well with me,’

‘too well,’ in fact; and envy found its congenial food; this provided a

perfectly clear and comprehensible point of attack; and soon there

spread through the German press, in the columns given to Dresden news,

an estimate of me which has never fundamentally changed, except in one

point, to this day. This single modification, which was purely

temporary and confined to papers of one political colour, occurred on

my first settlement as a political refugee in Switzerland, but lasted

only until, through Liszt’s exertions, my operas began to be produced

all over Germany, in spite of my exile. The orders from two theatres,

immediately after the Dresden performance, for one of my scores, were

merely due to the fact that up to that time the activity of my

journalistic critics was still limited. I put down the cessation of all

inquiries, certainly not without due justification, mainly to the

effect of the false and calumnious reports in the papers.

My old friend Laube tried, indeed, to undertake my defence in the

press. On New Year’s Day, 1843 he resumed the editorship of the Zeitung

fur die Elegante Welt, and asked me to provide him with a biographical

notice of myself for the first number. It evidently gave him great

pleasure to present me thus in triumph to the literary world, and in

order to give the subject more prominence he added a supplement to that

number in the shape of a lithograph reproduction of my portrait by

Kietz. But after a time even he became anxious and confused in his

judgment of my works, when he saw the systematic and increasingly

virulent detraction, depreciation, and scorn to which they were

subjected. He confessed to me later that he had never imagined such a

desperate position as mine against the united forces of journalism

could possibly exist, and when he heard my view of the question, he

smiled and gave me his blessing, as though I were a lost soul.

Moreover, a change was observable in the attitude of those immediately

connected with me in my work, and this provided very acceptable

material for the journalistic campaign. I had been led, though by no

ambitious impulse, to ask to be allowed to conduct the performances of

my own works. I found that at every performance of Rienzi Reissiger

became more negligent in his conducting, and that the whole production

was slipping back into the old familiar, expressionless, and humdrum

performance; and as my appointment was already mooted, I had asked

permission to conduct the sixth performance of my work in person. I

conducted without having held a single rehearsal, and without any

previous experience, at the head of the Dresden orchestra. The

performance went splendidly; singers and orchestra were inspired with

new life, and everybody was obliged to admit that this was the finest

performance of Rienzi that had yet been given. The rehearsing and

con-ducting of the Fliegender Holländer were willingly handed over to

me, because Reissiger was overwhelmed with work, in consequence of the

death of the musical director, Rastrelli. In addition to this I was

asked to conduct Weber’s Euryanthe, by way of providing a direct proof

of my capacity to interpret scores other than my own. Apparently

everybody was pleased, and it was the tone of this performance that

made Weber’s widow so anxious that I should accept the Dresden

conductorship; she declared that for the first time since her husband’s

death she had heard his work correctly interpreted, both in expression

and time.

Thereupon, Reissiger, who would have preferred to have a musical

director under him, but had received instead a colleague on an equal

footing, felt himself aggrieved by my appointment. Though his own

indolence would have inclined him to the side of peace and a good

understanding with me, his ambitious wife took care to stir up his fear

of me. This never led to an openly hostile attitude on his part, but I

noticed certain indiscretions in the press from that time onwards,

which showed me that the friendliness of my colleague, who never talked

to me without first embracing me, was not of the most honourable type.

I also received a quite unexpected proof that I had attracted the

bitter envy of another man whose sentiments I had no reason to suspect.

This was Karl Lipinsky, a celebrated violinist in his day, who had for

many years led the Dresden orchestra. He was a man of ardent

temperament and original talent, but of incredible vanity, which his

emotional, suspicious Polish temperament rendered dangerous. I always

found him annoying, because however inspiring and instructive his

playing was as to the technical execution of the violinists, he was

certainly ill-fitted to be the leader of a first-class orchestra. This

extraordinary person tried to justify Director Lüttichau’s praise of

his playing, which could always be heard above the rest of the

orchestra; he came in a little before the other violins; he was a

leader in a double sense, as he was always a little ahead. He acted in

much the same way with regard to expression, marking his slight

variations in the piano passages with fanatical precision. It was

useless to talk to him about it, as nothing but the most skilful

flattery had any effect on him. So I had to endure it as best I could,

and to think out ways and means of diminishing its ill effects on the

orchestral performances as a whole by having recourse to the most

polite circumlocutions. Even so he could not endure the higher

estimation in which the performances of the orchestra under my

conductorship were held, because he thought that the playing of an

orchestra in which he was the leader must invariably be excellent,

whoever stood at the conductor’s desk. Now it happened, as is always

the case when a new man with fresh ideas is installed in office, that

the members of the orchestra came to me with the most varied

suggestions for improvements which had hitherto been neglected; and

Lipinsky, who was already annoyed about this, turned a certain case of

this kind to a peculiarly treacherous use. One of the oldest

contrabassists had died. Lipinsky urged me to arrange that the post

should not be filled in the usual way by promotion from the ranks of

our own orchestra, but should be given, on his recommendation, to a

distinguished and skilful contrabassist from Darmstadt named Muller.

When the musician whose rights of seniority were thus threatened,

appealed to me, I kept my promise to Lipinsky, explained my views about

the abuses of promotion by seniority, and declared that, in accordance

with my sworn oath to the King, I held it my paramount duty to consider

the maintenance of the artistic interests of the institution before

everything else. I then found to my great astonishment, though it was

foolish of me to be surprised, that the whole of the orchestra turned

upon me as one man, and when the occasion arose for a discussion

between Lipinsky and myself as to his own numerous grievances, he

actually accused me of having threatened, by my remarks in the

contrabassist case, to undermine the well-established rights of the

members of the orchestra, whose welfare it was my duty to protect.

Lüttichau, who was on the point of absenting himself from Dresden for

some time, was extremely uneasy, as Reissiger was away on his holiday,

at leaving musical affairs in such a dangerous state of unrest. The

deceit and impudence of which I had been the victim was a revelation to

me, and I gathered from this experience the calm sense necessary to set

the harassed director at ease by the most conclusive assurances that I

understood the people with whom I had to deal, and would act

accordingly. I faithfully kept my word, and never again came into

collision either with Lipinsky or any other member of the orchestra. On

the contrary, all the musicians were soon so firmly attached to me that

I could always pride myself on their devotion.

From that day forward, however, one thing at least was certain, namely,

that I should not die as conductor at Dresden. My post and my work at

Dresden thenceforward became a burden, of which the occasionally

excellent results of my efforts made me all the more sensible.

My position at Dresden, however, brought me one friend whose intimate

relations with me long survived our artistic collaboration in Dresden.

A musical director was assigned to each conductor; he had to be a

musician of repute, a hard worker, adaptable, and, above all, a

Catholic, for the two conductors were Protestants, a cause of much

annoyance to the clergy of the Catholic cathedral, numerous positions

in which had to be filled from the orchestra. August Röckel, a nephew

of Hummel, who sent in his application for this position from Weimar,

furnished evidence of his suitability under all these heads. He

belonged to an old Bavarian family; his father was a singer, and had

sung the part of Florestan at the time of the first production of

Beethoven’s Fidelio, and had himself remained on terms on close

intimacy with the Master, many details about whose life have been

preserved through his care. His subsequent position as a teacher of

singing led him to take up theatrical management, and he introduced

German opera to the Parisians with so much success, that the credit for

the popularity of Fidelio and Der Freischutz with French audiences, to

whom these works were quite unknown, must be awarded to his admirable

enterprise, which was also responsible for Schroder-Devrient’s debut in

Paris. August Röckel, his son, who was still a young man, by helping

his father in these and similar undertakings, had gained practical

experience as a musician. As his father’s business had for some time

even extended to England, August had won practical knowledge of all

sorts by contact with many men and things, and in addition had learned

French and English. But music had remained his chosen vocation, and his

great natural talent justified the highest hopes of success. He was an

excellent pianist, read scores with the utmost ease, possessed an

exceptionally fine ear, and had indeed every qualification for a

practical musician. As a composer he was actuated, not so much by a

strong impulse to create, as the desire to show what he was capable of;

the success at which he aimed was to gain the reputation of a clever

operatic composer rather than recognition as a distinguished musician,

and he hoped to obtain his end by the production of popular works.

Actuated by this modest ambition he had completed an opera, Farinelli,

for which he had also written the libretto, with no other aspiration

than that of attaining the same reputation as his brother-in-law

Lortzing.

He brought this score to me, and begged me—it was his first visit

before he had heard one of my operas in Dresden—to play him something

from Rienzi and the Fliegender Holländer. His frank, agreeable

personality induced me to try and meet his wishes as far as I could;

and I am convinced that I soon made such a great and unexpectedly

powerful impression on him that from that moment he determined not to

bother me further with the score of his opera. It was not until we had

become more intimate and had discovered mutual personal interests, that

the desire of turning his work to account induced him to ask me to show

my practical friendship by turning my attention to his score. I made

various suggestions as to how it might be improved, but he was soon so

hopelessly disgusted with his own work that he put it absolutely aside,

and never again felt seriously moved to undertake a similar task. On

making a closer acquaintance with my completed operas and plans for new

works, he declared to me that he felt it his vocation to play the part

of spectator, to be my faithful helper and the interpreter of my new

ideas, and, as far as in him lay, to remove entirely, and at all events

to relieve me as far as possible from, all the unpleasantnesses of my

official position and of my dealings with the outside world. He wished,

he said, to avoid placing himself in the ridiculous position of

composing operas of his own while living on terms of close friendship

with me.

Nevertheless, I tried to urge him to turn his own talent to account,

and to this end called his attention to several plots which I wished

him to work out. Among these was the idea contained in a small French

drama entitled Cromwell’s Daughter, which was subsequently used as the

subject for a sentimental pastoral romance, and for the elaboration of

which I presented him with an exhaustive plan.

But in the end all my efforts remained fruitless, and it became evident

that his productive talent was feeble. This perhaps arose partly from

his extremely needy and trying domestic circumstances, which were such

that the poor fellow wore himself out to support his wife and numerous

growing children. Indeed, he claimed my help and sympathy in quite

another fashion than by arousing my interest in his artistic

development. He was unusually clear-headed, and possessed a rare

capacity for teaching and educating himself in every branch of

knowledge and experience; he was, moreover, so genuinely true and

good-hearted that he soon became my intimate friend and comrade. He

was, and continued to be, the only person who really appreciated the

singular nature of my position towards the surrounding world, and with

whom I could fully and sincerely discuss the cares and sorrows arising

therefrom. What dreadful trials and experiences, what painful anxieties

our common fate was to bring upon us, will soon be seen.

The earlier period of my establishment in Dresden brought me also

another devoted and lifelong friend, though his qualities were such

that he exerted a less decisive influence upon my career. This was a

young physician, named Anton Pusinelli, who lived near me. He seized

the occasion of a serenade sung in honour of my thirtieth birthday by

the Dresden Glee Club to express to me personally his hearty and

sincere attachment. We soon entered upon a quiet friendship from which

we derived a mutual benefit. He became my attentive family doctor, and

during my residence in Dresden, marked as it was by accumulating

difficulties, he had abundant opportunities of helping me. His

financial position was very good, and his ready self-sacrifice enabled

him to give me substantial succour and bound me to him by many

heartfelt obligations.

A further development of my association with Dresden buddy was provided

by the kindly advances of Chamberlain von Konneritz’s family. His wife,

Marie von Konneritz (nee Fink), was a friend of Countess Ida Hahn-Hahn,

and expressed her appreciation of my success as a composer with great

warmth, I might almost say, with enthusiasm. I was often invited to

their house, and seemed likely, through this family, to be brought into

touch with the higher aristocracy of Dresden. I merely succeeded in

touching the fringe, however, as we really had nothing in common. True,

I here made the acquaintance of Countess Rossi, the famous Sontag, by

whom, to my genuine astonishment, I was most heartily greeted, and I

thereby obtained the right of afterwards approaching her in Berlin with

a certain degree of familiarity. The curious way in which I was

disillusioned about this lady on that occasion will be related in due

course. I would only mention here that, through my earlier experiences

of the world, I had become fairly impervious to deception, and my

desire for closer acquaintance with these circles speedily gave way to

a complete hopelessness and an entire lack of ease in their sphere of

life.

Although the Konneritz couple remained friendly during the whole of my

prolonged sojourn in Dresden, yet the connection had not the least

influence either upon my development or my position. Only once, on the

occasion of a quarrel between Lüttichau and myself, the former observed

that Frau von Konneritz, by her unmeasured praises, had turned my head

and made me forget my position towards him. But in making this taunt he

forgot that, if any woman in the higher ranks of Dresden society had

exerted a real and invigorating influence upon my inward pride, that

woman was his own wife, Ida von Lüttichau (nee von Knobelsdorf).

The power which this cultured, gentle, and distinguished lady exercised

over my life was of a kind I now experienced for the first time, and

might have become of great importance had I been favoured with more

frequent and intimate intercourse. But it was less her position as wife

of the general director than her constant ill-health and my own

peculiar unwillingness to appear obtrusive, that hindered our meeting,

except at rare intervals. My recollections of her merge somewhat, in my

memory, with those of my own sister Rosalie. I remember the tender

ambition which inspired me to win the encouraging sympathy of this

sensitive woman, who was painfully wasting away amid the coarsest

surroundings. My earliest hope for the fulfilment of this ambition

arose from her appreciation of my Fliegender Holländer, in spite of the

fact that, following close upon Rienzi, it had so puzzled the Dresden

public. In this way she was the first, so to speak, who swam against

the tide and met me upon my new path. So deeply was I touched by this

conquest that, when I afterwards published the opera, I dedicated it to

her. In the account of my later years in Dresden I shall have more to

record of the warm sympathy for my new development and dearest artistic

aims for which I was indebted to her. But of real intercourse we had

none, and the character of my Dresden life was not affected by this

acquaintance, otherwise so important in itself.

On the other hand, my theatrical acquaintances thrust themselves with

irresistible importunancy into the wide foreground of my life, and in

fact, after my brilliant successes, I was still restricted to the same

limited and familiar sphere in which I had prepared myself for these

triumphs. Indeed, the only one who joined my old friends Heine and

Gaffer Fischer was Tichatschek, with his strange domestic circle. Any

one who lived in Dresden at that time and chanced to know the court

lithographer, Furstenau, will be astonished to hear that, without

really being aware of it myself, I entered into a familiarity that was

to prove a lasting one with this man who was an intimate friend of

Tichatschek’s. The importance of this singular connection may be judged

from the fact that my complete withdrawal from him coincided exactly

with the collapse of my civic position in Dresden.

My good-humoured acceptance of election to the musical committee of the

Dresden Glee Club also brought me further chance acquaintances. This

club consisted of a limited number of young merchants and officials,

who had more taste for any kind of convivial entertainment than for

music. But it was seduously kept together by a remarkable and ambitious

man, Professor Lowe, who nursed it with special objects in view, for

the attainment of which he felt the need of an authority such as I

possessed at that time in Dresden.