Private Performances at the Hof Theater at Munich
The Bavarians were in general inclined to forgive their King's
peculiarities. A single weakness, however, they found it difficult to
condone: they did not like his habit of commanding private performances
at the theatre, of which he was the only witness.
Although Ludwig covered all the expenses, his private performances at
the Hof Theater became so unpopular that his Ministers felt themselves
constrained to make a protest against them. The blame for this taste
was laid upon Wagner, the charge being based on the fact that the
poet-musician had arranged (1865) a concert in the Hof Theater at
which the King had been the sole audience. More probable is it,
however, that his pleasure in them was awakened little by little,
as he was in the habit of driving in from his castles in the mountain
districts to be present at the various dress rehearsals.
From time to time he would cause translations or adaptations of French
plays from Louis XIV.'s time to be made and played for him alone. Later
he transferred his attention to Louis XV.'s time. In his latter years
he caused several historical pieces to be produced, of which the
subjects were taken from the legends relating to Hohenschwangau. The
first private performance took place in 1871, the last towards the end
of 1885. In the course of these fourteen seasons he was present at two
hundred and ten performances, of which forty-five were operas. [30]
Until and including 1878 there were never given more than twelve
private performances in each season. In 1879 the number rose to twenty,
and in 1883 to twenty-five performances. Everything that was played
for the King alone was artistically perfect.
The actress Charlotte Wolther, who played in the last Narcisz
performance of 1885, has written her impressions of that evening:
"His Majesty had ordered that the representation should begin at twelve
o'clock at night, she tells us. All that was to be seen through the
peephole was the brightly lighted proscenium. Absolute silence reigned;
even the workmen wore felt slippers. At the stroke of twelve a bell was
rung; the King was leaving the Palace. He passed along the corridor
to his great box. A new ringing of the bell announced that he had
entered it, and immediately the curtain rose! The singer became the
victim of a nervous trembling, and required all her presence of mind
to perform her part before a single witness, at such a strange time,
and in such romantic stillness...."
Many stories of doubtful veracity were circulated with regard to
these theatre evenings. French, Russian, and American journalists
depicted them in fantastic colours. The American humorist Mark Twain
wrote amusingly of them; and his accounts won general credence on
both sides of the Atlantic! "The opera concluded, and the artists
having washed the paint off their faces, they are frequently ordered
to re-dress, and singers and orchestra have to go through the opera
a second time for the King," he writes in one of his books. "There
is in the great Hof Theater an apparatus which, in case of fire,
can put the whole stage under water. A violent storm was represented
at one of these private performances. The theatre tempest howled,
the thunder rolled. In a loud voice Ludwig shouted from his box:
'Good, very good! But I want real rain. Let the water flow!' The
scene-shifter ventured to demur, representing that the decorations,
no less than the silk and velvet curtains, would be destroyed. 'Never
mind,' said the King; 'do as I bid you!' The water poured out over
the stage, over the artificial flowers and houses. The singers were
drenched; they put a bold face on it, and sang away bravely. The
King applauded, and shouted 'Bravo! More thunder, more lighting!' he
ordered. 'Bad luck to him who dares to leave the stage!'"
Needless to say, Mark Twain's story was entirely the creation of his
own brain; Ludwig laughed heartily when the description was read aloud
to him. And yet the citizens of Munich were no less credulous on this
point than the American public. They thought, among other things,
that the King wrote his own plays; and they declared that his private
performances raised the taxation of the country.