R. dreamt lately of a situation in which he said to himself, ‘This I have dreamt so often, and now it befalls me in truth!’ — First rehearsal of “Lohengrin”. — In the evening we, R. and I, go to “Arria and Messalina” by Wilbrandt[1] — a most wretched piece of work, acted by players utterly without talent; we came home with a feeling of nausea.
[1] Adolf von Wilbrandt (1837-1911), German dramatist, novelist and biographer of Kleist, 1865-71 Munich, then Vienna, 1881-87 director of the Burgtheater; tragedy “Arria and Messalina”, 1874.
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.