R. is tolerably well, slept well, first outing for rehearsal at 10 o’clock; met at the door by Dr. Davidsohn, 40 music stands were missing. A walk with R., breakfasted in the arcade, and by eleven, we were again at the concert hall. The orchestra was rebellious, with an uneven mood (the court orchestra and Bilse’s orchestra [1]), the members refusing to rehearse for the Day of Repentance, hats on their heads, cigars in their mouths, horn players cannot play the tubas, etc. Will the concert take place?? Niemann invites us to breakfast, which lasts until 4 o’clock, and R. is in good spirits. In the evening, a soirée at the Ministry of the Royal Household [2], very pleasant and enjoyable.
[1] Benjamin Bilse (1816-1902), a German conductor who, starting in 1868, had his own orchestra, the Bilse Concerts, at the Berlin Concert Hall.
[2] The palace at Wilhelmstrasse 73 housed the Royal Household Ministry from 1858 onwards and later became the official residence of the Reichspräsident. The premises housed the famous salon of Marie von Schleinitz, whose husband, Count Alexander von Schleinitz – Minister of the Royal Household, was responsible for the administration of the Crown Estates, the private asset management of the House of Hohenzollern, and the safeguarding of other royal rights.
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.