Category: Cosima Wagner Diaries

R. says to me that I am like the gazelle who has drawn the Indian hermit once more into life! He would otherwise have been entirely lost. — The first piano and singing lesson for the two little ones. After luncheon, we go out; upon our return, a letter for…

R. writes to Herr von Rudolphi to explain how it came to be that he chose Schroetter; great distress — the nearer we draw to our goal, the more everything seems to conspire against us. I am only thankful that R. does not entirely lose heart or spirit. Over coffee…

R. drafts a circular to the musicians; begins his spring water cure, breakfast in the garden. A small dinner with young Brandt, the two Lalas, and Herr Zimmer. Herr Rubinstein, having returned from Brunswick, confirms the news regarding Schroetter, adding that the director was offended that R. had not written…

Schedule drawn up for the little ones; a letter from the headmistress regarding Boni and Lusch, and her judgment of the latter troubles me especially; admonitions to the children! … A very pleasant letter from O. Bach, and a most beautiful one from friend Nietzsche concerning “Götterdämmerung”. R. said to…

R. delights in the house and the children — in the morning he also recounts to me his dream, wherein his relations with Bismarck were formal yet affectionate, and Bismarck’s face, at their parting, became so transfigured that R. said to himself: “No man truly knows this face.”Over coffee I…

Drove to the theatre with R. and the children; young Fritz Brandt was at work in the fly tower, which made quite a pleasant impression. In the evening, our good Macedonian man Lalas came with his brother, a merchant from Salonika. – A few days ago, I received a letter from…