"Yes, we must have a ballet." "I shall do something about the rather tame bacchanal in the first act." "I thought I might make it more voluptuous, give Venus more, let us make Frau Venus a real woman." "Eroticism, music to lay bare our most secret passions, our most sensual yearnings to incite our senses." "Yes, yes." " Tasteful, I hope." "Tasteful." " Tasteful?" "Monsieur Royer, this is the first time I've been in a theatre, on the stage of a theatre, for many years." " In the first act..." " Yes?" " You would put the ballet in the first act?" " That's where it can go." "In Paris, monsieur, the ballet is always in the second act, so the gentlemen of the town can see it." "In our experience, ballet in the first act is too early, in the third, too late." "The gentlemen of the town have already gone elsewhere for their, their..." "No, a ballet in the first act will not attract the town." "There you have it, Monsieur Wagner." "Please meet Petipa." "He will design your ballet." "Please, he will explain." " Monsieur Wagner." " Er, Petipa." "Monsieur Petipa is the ballet master." "Whoremaster." "Might one say, Herr Wagner, that in Paris, gentlemen dine at eight?" "Well, er, the orchestra?" "Competent, I think." "Quite a number of them are German." "Well, they're the best in the world." "Because they dine at eight, they can repair to the opera in time for the second act, where they expect to find a ballet, as they will find tonight in Nabucco, as you see, er..." " You are ill-advised, Herr Wagner." " I never accept advice." " I advise you!" " Oh, do you?" " From my heart!" " Ah!" "Deep-felt?" "You, er..." "We're accustomed to a ballet in the second act in Paris." "And the members of the Jockey Club, they will not accept your opera should it not have, er..." "Let me tell you this, Herr Wagner, without the Jockey Club's attention we are lost, lost, lost!" "And that is fact." " Is it?" " Absolutely fact!" "Ah!" "Then which act will the Emperor wish to see?" "If these gentlemen only wish to see a second act, I shall make that the best act." "I beg your pardon, the Emperor will wish to see the entire opera, of course." "Then entire he shall see it." "Note on note, every sound, every note as I intend it, in the place I intend it to be." "That does not mean I shall give way to gentlemen who'd rather see Verdi in underthings, rather lech among the sprites than listen to them!" "How well does Verdi write second acts for brothels?" " Does he prosper?" " Brothels?" "!" "If they can do this to a revolutionary like Verdi, what are they going to do to me, Hans?" "Well, we ain't going to let them, Hans, not an inch do we give the whoremasters!" "It goes... it goes well." "It is a mistake, is it not, Richard?" "I am beyond Tannhäuser." "But it is yours, and you are given this opportunity to do it, here in Paris!" "What is this?" "Tannhäuser." "I'm revising the whole thing." "Well, most of it." "Indeed, some of it." "The, er, tone of it." " Its colour." " Why?" "So it'll seem the more sensual." "This?" "Ah, a gift from an admirer." "On Wednesdays I am at home." "Minna, it might please you to attend." "I now have a public position, which you, as wife, must share with me." " But this part of the apartment is mine." " I am your wife!" " Yes, of course you are." " Well, where has the money come from?" "That is no concern of yours." "I must be able to receive people." "My soirées are attended by brilliant and gifted people with influence." " Women admirers?" " Don't be silly!" "Admirers, supporters, subscribers." "I cannot appear to be less than they." "Meyerbeer gives money away by the cartload." "As if it were done, which indeed it is." "And you do not soil your hands in such... dung, I take it?" "These are going to be your rooms." "I will expect you to stay in this part of the house." "But I hope you will make an appearance when we have guests." "Just an appearance." "There's no need to be involved in anything." "You, er, you have a maid." "Two pianos?" "Where does the money come from?" "I have a contract for nine months." "I give concerts." "All these copyists!" "You were forced to work as a copyist once, now you employ them by the regiment!" " How can you pay for them?" " They are paid." "They are necessary." "There is new music." "A ballet." "Much to be done between Venus and Tannhäuser." "In French." "If the music sticks, it's going to be a devil of a job to change this back into German." "That awful Venus, I'm never able to accept her!" "No, and I doubt you ever will." "Are you given money by Wesendonck?" " I have been." " And what are you given by his wife?" "I shall not suffer that again!" "Go to your rooms!" "I do not expect you to enter these rooms unless you are invited." "I must sit down." "I feel faint." "I would not wish you to be responsible for my death." "Go!" "No!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Again!" "One, two." "Go!" "Go!" "And go!" "Go!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "More fire!" "Passion!" "Gentlemen!" "Gentlemen." "Gentlemen!" "We are not Prussian soldiers, but free men!" "Be so kind as to explain what you mean by that, sir." "Herr Wagner, the time has come to say to you, after interminable rehearsals, sir, some hundred or so to date, sir, we refuse to be drilled like Germans!" "Even those of us who are Germans!" "I shall need more rehearsals from all of you, not less." "I shall supply you with lunch and wine, and I shall pay you extra, out of my own pocket." "Bravo!" "Bravo!" "Yes, yes." "Sorry, my fault." "I am Albert Niemann." "I will sing Tannhäuser." "I'm Richard Wagner." "This is my assistant, Hans von Bülow." " Do you want me?" " Mm... it is a thought." "I am the greatest!" " I hear that you are." " What's the fee?" "I shall hear you first." "An audition!" "To give auditory trial!" "Well..." "I know the role backwards!" "Interesting." "How does that sound?" "# Hör an, Wolfram" "# Hör an" "# Inbrunst im Herzen" "# Wie kein Büsser noch" "# Sie je gefühlt" "# Sucht' ich den Weg nach Rom" "# Ein Engel hatte, ach!" "# Der Sünde Stolz" "# Dem Ubermütigen entwunden" "# Für ihn wollt'ich in Demüt büssen" "# Das Heil erfliehn, das mir verneint" "# Um ihm die Träne zu versüssen" "# Die er mir Sünder einst geweint!" "# Wie neben mir der schwerstbedrückte Pilger" "# Die Strasse walt' erschien mir allzuleicht #" "By refusing to have a ballet in the second act, you have lost the services of the principal dancers." " That is so." " Why?" "They will not appear." "I can obtain for you three Hungarian dancers." "Monsieur Wagner, we beg of you, reconsider!" "No!" "You will have your ballet, but it must be in the first act." "I must portion it in the first act." "You will play to an empty theatre!" " You are being used!" " That does not happen to me." "There's more to this - Tannhäuser, political complexities..." "I rejected politics, they're nothing to me." "It is even said that although France won the war, there was a clause in the peace treaty which imposed a production of Tannhäuser on Paris." "Huh, a German opera, at the command of the French Emperor, influenced, some say, by an Austrian Princess Metternich." "Can't imagine why." "I've heard she can't tell a fugue from a flugelhorn." "But you must have friends." "I've already been approached!" "I refuse, I refuse to employ them!" "Then you risk a great deal." "All this concertising, simply to make money!" "Bits and pieces, my dear, bits and pieces!" "Herr Wagner!" "You deal with a Jewess." "If you want money, you must sign a note!" "It is necessary!" "Yes, in the case of such a person as Madame Schwabe it is certainly necessary." "Why, sir, would it not be?" "I lend you money." "You have taken a journey into the music of the future." " Isn't that what he says?" " Hmm." "You give me a promissory note." "Ah, I do indeed." "For the sum of 3,000 francs." "The whole thing is too long!" "Too high and too long!" "The score must be cut, Herr Wagner!" "We are doomed to failure unless you cut, cut, cut!" "I shall want to get through my role as quickly as possible!" "Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi!" "My voice, you see!" "This is my opera, and unless you consider it so, then scout out for another Tannhäuser!" "Well, take it down an octave." "Change a few notes." "Anything." "It's only music, after all." "Monsieur Royer, I must conduct the orchestra myself." "I've had 164 rehearsals with the orchestra, and now, within days of giving my Tannhäuser," "I'm told I'm not allowed to conduct." "Listen to it, do!" "The musical director must conduct his own orchestra!" "His orchestra!" "Mine!" "I sharped it!" "And the corps de ballet is a disgrace!" " Oh, it is!" " It is not!" " Indeed it is!" " Look at that lumpish..." "lump!" "Oh, yes!" "I compose music for a wild dance." "Wild, bold, sensual..." "And look!" "What do I have?" " Indeed!" " If there's no ballet in the second act, consider a dance intermezzo between acts..." " No, no, no!" "... to show their charms to the admirers..." "A pas de trois?" "I am patronised by the Emperor." "Yes, because he wishes to placate the republicans by showing favour to one such as yourself!" "He's persuaded by Princess Metternich that he should hear Wagner at last." "Wagner, do you understand?" "Paris is to see Wagner." "Wagner - a serious and dedicated artist - among this!" "There's dislike of the influence of Princess Metternich, who's Austrian." "I know she is Austrian." "We speak the same language, to some extent." "Ah, Petipa!" "I'm in despair." "Look at that!" "Monsieur Wagner, I am the finest ballet master in the whole of France." "Monsieur Sax informs me there are not 12 French horns in the whole of Paris." " It is true." " Then they must be made." "What?" "I cannot do it in time!" "Might I suggest..." "Petipa, don't you understand what I've written?" "It is a bacchanal!" "Yes." "But if I try to do it I would need all the premier dancers, and even so, were I to ask them to give what you demand, the passion you expect, and your music indicates..." "Were I to, Monsieur Wagner, in their tutus, we would simply end with the can..." "Cancan." "'Paris is the centre of the musical world." "'Lt cannot be helped." "'And Paris is not German." "'Ln Europe, a success in Paris is desirable - 'scores sold, 'works taken up and given." "'Wagner was well aware of the importance of the occasion, 'well aware, 'as he faced his first opening night 'for 16 years. '" " Herr Wagner?" " Sir?" " I am here to wish you success." " Thanks." " You are sure of it." " Thank you." "I can guarantee it." "Sir, I do not intend to pay you anything." "You or any other member of your claque." "Well, I can guarantee nothing." "I, however, can guarantee everything." "I'm well aware that you, sir, have these in your pocket." " Do you talk to me, sir?" " Herr Meyerbeer, I do talk to you." "Shall I speak in Hebrew so your friends might understand?" "I've never borne you ill will, Herr Wagner." "As a younger man, I did you some service." "The service was indeed slight, but I thank you for it." "Any person of discrimination would have done the same." "Obviously, my work had to be recommended, even by you." "There is nothing wrong with packing the house with friends." "I don't buy friends, or praise." "From what one hears, the flow of money goes one way only, Herr Wagner." "I read your pamphlet on Jewry In Music." "It was written with such as you in mind." "You used my name." "Several times." " How did you find the argument?" " I found it clever, but offensive." "I prefer to consider it the work of a bitter and frustrated man." "I shall ignore it." "I have had letters from Jewish musicians pleading for a way out of their misery." " Thus presented to them." " You'll have no letters from me, sir." "I take it you paid for your ticket?" "One should always do one's best for one's fellow musicians." "Let me reimburse you for what will probably be a disappointing evening." "Oh, come now, Tannhäuser is quite a good piece." "Overlong, but quite well-crafted." "It is wonderful and wonderfully given." "It is all I would wish it to be." "That will be your disappointment sir, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle!" "'Oh, the things that have happened to us in the past." "'I try to put them out of my mind, 'but they're always there at times such as these." "'Frightening, shameful, terrifying things." "'We have both fled." "'We have both been hunted down for debt, for intrigue, for debt." "'The Cossacks, always on our heels." "'I know, 'even at our moments of greatest security, 'even when success trembles." "'Please, please. '" "Get on with it!" "You idiot!" "'Oh God, not again, not again!" "'" "# Hör an, Wolfram!" "# Hör an" "# Inbrunst im Herzen" "# Wie kein Büsser noch" "# Sie je gefühlt... #" "Well?" "Politics." "Niemann wasn't good enough, was he?" "Quite." "When you're recovered you must go to live in Dresden." "Perhaps." "You?" "Not sure." "Princess Metternich is attempting to obtain for me a passport." "Perhaps I shall be allowed back in Germany at last." "I shall not stay in Paris." "Vienna, perhaps." "I hate the French above all others." "Such disgusting behaviour!" "Yes." "If I am accorded a passport, I will visit you." "As you wish." "I intend to take the waters in Soden." "That I knew." "I have it arranged with Pusinelli." "You despise me." " No." " I hate you." "Minerl, Minerl, you don't." "Perhaps." "Bülow is trying to persuade the Grand Duke of Baden to have me in Karlsruhe." "I shall, er, I shall ask for a small pension." "Do we like Karlsruhe?" "Perhaps." "Tristan and Isolde, perhaps." "That miserable moan." "That disgusting moan!" "My husband wrote that, that filth, that drug, when he was besot with Mathilde Wesendonck." "Culture carrion!" "And impossible to perform." "I know." "You will not find a singer to sing it, I know." "Maybe." "Richard." "Promise me no more lewdness with women." "No more infatuations with women like Frau Wesendonck, promise me." "Minerl." "You're cruel, heartless." "I'm glad I'm going away." "'Bülow, what will you do now?" "'" "'I'm offered a post in Berlin." "They think of starting an orchestra there." " 'Berlin." "And you?" "' - 'Switzerland, perhaps. '" "I must leave Paris." "That I know." "Paris." "Look at it, Bülow." "There's a market for anything in Paris." "Even the leavings from the tables of the rich." "Smuggled out by servants." "Still sauced by their master's spit, no doubt." "Back-door bones from restaurants." "Paris won't pick on my bones, even if I have to concertise." "Paris can afford anything." "Can buy anything." "Anything." "Buy it and waste it." "We are gentlemen of the three ins, Bülow." "In debt, in danger and in poverty." "Two are enough for any man." "'Wagner became a journeyman again, 'concertising, seeking a settled existence, a place to work, 'a patron to pick up his bills, 'a theatre to offer him welcome." "'Always in his mind there nagged a thought 'that somewhere there was a person 'with the vision and the courage to offer him everything he might need 'to realise his ideas." "'No state in Germany would open its doors to him." "'The insignificant princelings Wagner and his friends had challenged 'were banded against him." "'Everywhere that he went, his piano went as well." "'But most of all, he needed time." "'Money to buy time." "'His operas were given, true, 'but the income from them was small." "'He was becoming increasingly desperate 'that he would never be given the chance to do the great work 'he knew would assure his place." "'But first he tried Switzerland again." "'Tried Wesendonck again. '" "Your wife?" "Not good." "Yours?" "Frau Wesendonck?" "She enjoys excellent health." "Yes, good." "And your health?" "Mine?" "Your afflictions." "Yes, yes." "The usual." " Your skin." " What did you say?" "Hm?" "I hope to complete Siegfried." "And for Rheingold and Valkyrie?" "24,000 francs would be an excellent investment." "I do assure you, Otto, you will be the person who gains." "The Ring is going to be a tremendous piece." "You are to be my business partner with The Ring." "I'll throw in Meistersinger." "Soon finish that if I can get a pension... and somewhere to live." "Investment in what, Wagner?" "I already hold publishing rights to The Ring." " Investment in what?" " In me." "In me, damn you." "In me." "Perhaps." "Have you tried Vienna?" "On the other hand, I know any reputable money-lender would show you some courtesy on my encomium." "Thank you, Wesendonck, but I will not take money from those who have no conception of my worth." "I'm not a swindler." "The Grand Duke of Baden is thinking of placing his theatre at my disposal." " Is he?" " That's why I'm here in Vienna." " To look for singers for my opera Tristan." " I shall see you don't find them." " Ah, but, Your Highness, I..." " Why not give us your opera here?" " Ah, but, er..." " In Vienna we can do it so much better." " Your Highness," " Hanslick, this is Herr Wagner." "Your Highness." "One of the most important critics in Vienna, Herr Wagner." "I have a great admiration for you, sir." " Dr Hanslick is a very prominent critic." " I know him, ma'am." "My dear Wagner, we must all learn to deal with our critics." "Artists and royalty are expected to smile." "He has attacked me and my work Tannhäuser viciously and persistently." "He is a pedant, a time-server." "One day I shall show him what he is." "I'll put him in a synagogue." "My dear Wagner, the Grand Duke is not interested in Tristan And Isolde." "He is interested in you." "He sees you as a political feather in his cap." "He has told me as much." "You are the German composer who was patronised by the Emperor Napoleon." "You will find that carries a great deal of weight with minor German princelings." "Frau Kapellmeisterin." "Sir." "Herr Doctor, is that..." "Yes." " He owes me money." " He owes us all money." " Is she ill?" " Yes." "She comes every day to petition the minister to allow Wagner back." "Were we not all revolutionaries?" "I ask you that." "I was his oboist, heaven help me." "I sought change, heaven help me." "I really want to help, but..." "Well, if there's nothing in Berlin, I may as well try Russia." " Tristan?" " In Vienna?" "With the Princess?" "Hopeless." "I continue to work on it." "It's a simple piece, but the difficulties..." "That tenor will never be able to sing it." "Doesn't understand a word of it." "Never been in love in his life." "I rewrite and rewrite to suit his voice." "Meistersinger is the thing." "Some money, anyway." "And a household around me." "I've arranged it for piano." "It might be something." "You could sell your fur coat." "He can't go to Russia without a fur coat." "Got it cheap." "From a Jew in Vienna." "He asked 220 thalers." "I told him, I explained to him that I'd only been given 200 thalers for the concert." "So therefore he knocked 20 thalers off the price." "I could sell this..." "if only I could find a Jew in Berlin." "The Grand Duke of Baden gave it to me." "I asked him for a pension and a house, a modest retainer so that I might settle to Meistersinger, and he gave me that." "In Vienna they told me that Tristan is unperformable." "Rheingold, Valkyrie, two acts of Siegfried, almost." "But not the music, not yet." "But it's there, if only I can settle long enough." "Oh, I'm so weary." "I came near to doing away with myself." "Maybe I shall." "Not until you've at least heard my piano arrangement of Meistersinger." "Weitzman is your Jew." "He can sell anything." "I shall take it to him now." "At least you will have some money to get you to St Petersburg." "My dear fellow." "Frau Kapellmeisterin, the minister is not able to see you today." "Would it be convenient..." "Might you call back tomorrow?" "Illness keeps us apart." "I would like to be with my husband... but I cannot travel." "'Well, my poor good Mutz, my Minerl, my good soul." "'How do you find yourself?" "'I work and work in Russia, 'find myself soaked to the skin on numerous occasions, 'find myself enduring all the so-called joys of travel, 'always beset by companions 'wherever I can find someone to let me stand in front of an orchestra" "'and wave a baton, a wretched baton." "'How does your health?" "Be patient and it will improve, of that I'm sure." "'Let me know all of your treatments in detail." "'I'm interested in their workings." "'I still suffer, but so it goes." "So keep fond of me." "'Goodbye, good old Frau Minna." "'Warmest sympathy from your Richard. '" "'You're afraid. '" "'Yes, I am." "'The way you would wish to change everything." "'Think more of your position, Richard, and less of changing everything." "'You hack away and hack away and you're not in a position to." "'You sit on the branch and hack at the tree." "I'm in the tree with you. '" "'My worst enemy is here in my own house. '" "'Oh, no." "'Not I.'" "He's so... so always in a turmoil." "Schemes, ideas, not his business!" "It is his business to present music for the King." "That's all and enough for anyone." "Dresden is one of the foremost theatres in Germany." "We are so lucky." "'Kindness!" "I don't want kindness." "I want money and I want a theatre." "'I've plays, ideas for plays, ideas for reform." "'They're well-thought-out ideas." "What happens to them?" "'My report on the state of the Royal Orchestra." "What about it?" "'Three months to prepare, not even read by the King." "'My ideas for a national theatre of Germany." "What about that?" "'Not taken seriously. '" "'Well, if there isn't a Germany. '" "Please." "Calling on the soldiers not to fight us." "Idiots..." "'You know that nobody will be able to stage it. '" " 'Do I?" "' - 'Yes. '" " 'You... ' - 'Me?" "'" "'You mock me for my seriousness." "'But if one is not serious about work, what then?" "Desolation." "'There is a stage." "It is out there." "It is going to happen. '" "'Wagner did go back to Vienna, 'destitute again, 'all he had earned gone 'and very little coming in." "'But once again he found friends, 'sought out Jews who would advance him on security of his friends." "'Found another woman." "'Settled to his stated task 'of mounting Tristan And Isolde in Vienna." "'While here in Dresden we began to listen sympathetically 'to the pleadings of Frau Wagner, 'her husband employed seamstresses by the score 'stitching him into silk. '" "I was an enormous success in St Petersburg." "Oh, really?" "This..." "This modest establishment in Vienna, my favourite city in the world, where all my friends are." "But I do need that our house - your house, now my house - be kept in order, the cellars full." "To this end, my present wife being unwell, unable to take care of me, perhaps I will divorce her." "I ask you to marry me, Friederike." " Richard." " Thank you." "His Majesty has again considered the case of Herr Wagner, and in view of the great esteem that your husband is afforded throughout Germany," "His Majesty is inclined to grant an amnesty so that Herr Wagner might visit you here in Dresden, in the city which was first to recognise his genius." "# Isolde" "# Tristan" "# Geliebte..." "How dare you?" "Sister?" "How dare you come into the same theatre as me?" "I?" "And why not?" "I have my reputation to think of." "You are his mistress." "I shall not rehearse while you are in the building." "Herr Wagner, Master, I am unwell." "My voice is in shreds." "I am not able to sing Tristan." "I am free." "I can go back." "Minna?" "Minna?" "It is I. Richard." "You have come." "Yes." "How is it here?" "Pleasant... when I am well." "And you are not?" "I'm better now." "We have prepared a bedroom for you." "Natalie." "Richard, she is very proud to have recovered your old desk here in Dresden." " Yes." " She hopes you still remember it." " Will you stay?" " A study..." "I expect you still owe everyone money." "I expect I do." "You demand 3,000 marks a year from me and what do you provide in return, hm?" "A settled household, hm?" "Vienna is an opportunity." "Best I've had yet." "The city is welcoming, the theatre is..." "Oh, it's a chance, Minna." "A good chance." "If I can manage to put Tristan on..." "Why, it's a simple piece, written to appeal to the public and be taken up and done everywhere." "There's nothing very complicated about it." "It must be very successful." "Though it is, as I say, a hazard." "The work is immoral." "All I wish from you is that you run my house for me so that I might work, nothing else." "And what do you offer in return?" "I've always offered you respect and friendship." "You once offered love." "You once... gave love." "I was always at your side." "Your devoted wife." "You cannot attack me." "I do." "I accuse you of cruelty, of infidelity and inadvertence." "All that I ask is that you provide a home for me, a settled home." "For you to come back to?" "Perhaps." "You have thrown away every opportunity offered to you." "A respectable life under the patronage of the court." " In Dresden." " Yes." "Where I was a liveried servant." "I was respected as Frau Kapellmeisterin." "Now you are respected as Frau Wagner." "I am..." "Frau Wagner." "Yes, you are." "You are." ""In the morning I shine in rosy radiance." ""Soon all is lost from blood and fragrance." ""What was won quickly is soon turned sickly. "" ""Open to all was this garden of mine, both to the beastly and to the fine." ""Just bearably in this space I'll be." ""Coinage, lead juice are the fruits of my fee." ""From pillories the aspirant calls me. "" ""On airy paths hang I from the tree. "" " Second chapter." " Meistersinger." "Hanslick, you're portrayed in it." "You should feel very proud." "It's not often a critic is advanced for immortality." "I've called him Beckmesser." "I had thought of calling him Arselick, as in Hanslick." " Is this the house of Richard?" " Wagner." "Thank you." " A dressing gown." " Where does he find the money for it?" "He has been to every Jew in Vienna." "And this is what he does with it?" "All of this?" "Richard, how can you afford all this?" "The simple answer is, my dear Peter, that I can't." "My dear Tausig." "You look so unwell." "Oh, I've just agreed to stand surety for Richard." "Signed as much." "I have agreed to cover some of his debts." "We're looking for Richard Wagner." "Frau Schott, Frau Schott." "Frau Schott, wife to my publisher, meet Dr Standhartner, physician to the Empress." "You will have lots to talk about." "Herr Schott, Herr Schott, you know Cornelius." "Peter, Herr Schott refuses to advance me any more money any more." " I am not..." " No, you are not, you are not." "Peter..." "Peter, you are the only real friend here." "Listen." "We must live together." "We must." "Live with you?" "Richard, you destroy your friends." "Look at them." "You are generous." "Too generous." "But you take everything from your friends." "Everything." "Their money, their women, their love." "Everything." "What are friends for?" "They've set the bumbees on me." "They're here to dun me." "I'm ruined." "What can I do?" "A miracle must happen, otherwise it is finished." " Then you must run." " Where?" " You've had your last penny from me." " What kind of a publisher are you?" "You don't need a publisher." "You need a rich banker or a prince with bottomless coffers." "I'll talk to them." "You go, Richard." "Go." "My name is Tausig." "I am surety for Herr Wagner." "And who, if I may ask, is surety for you, Mr Tausig?" " Gentlemen." " Mr Tausig." "Good heavens." "Your Majesty." "The strangers list from the Chief of Police." "Every stranger in Munich today." "Is he on it, Pfistermeister?" "No, Your Majesty, although there are several Wagners and even one Richard." "After all, it is a very common name." "But this one is far too young, a mere youth of 19, a boy..." "If he isn't going to come to us, you'll have to go to him." " Majesty." " I can't wait another minute." "Not another day." "'24,000 francs would be an excellent investment." "'I do assure you, Otto, you will be the person who gains." "'The Ring will be a tremendous piece." "'You are to be my business partner with The Ring." "'I'll throw in Meistersinger." "'Soon finish that if I can get a pension... 'and somewhere to live. '" "'Investment in what, Wagner?" "'I already hold publishing rights to The Ring." "Investment in what?" "'" "'Ln me." "In me, damn you, in me. '" "Ah, Herr Wagner." "A gentleman has been making enquiries about you." " Name?" " Not given." " Official?" " Very." "Come up for my luggage in ten minutes." "I'm leaving." "'Thank you, Wesendonck, 'but I will not take money from those who have no conception of my worth." "'I'm not a swindler." "'I can't live like this, 'the miserable life of a town organist," "'like Master Bach." "'I must have beauty, splendour, light around me." "'I am not as others." "'I have nerves that are as sensitive as touch." "'The world owes me a consideration 'and yes, yes, luxury." "'Ls it such a shocking request that I, who have so much enjoyment to give the world, 'should ask for some little comfort in return?" "'" "Come in, my luggage is ready." "Herr Richard Wagner, musician and composer?" "Yes, yes, I am he." "My card, sir." "Private secretary to the King of Bavaria?" "I have that honour." "Pfistermeister, sir." "A young man, just come to the throne, everything before him." "He has everything he needs, he is denied nothing." "As the ruby glows in the ring, so the heart of His Majesty burns with desire to greet the poet of Lohengrin." "His portrait." "He wishes to see you at once." "He desires you to accompany me to Munich." "Can you be ready for the five o'clock train?" "Ah." "Herr Wagner, I shall expect you." "Good day, sir." "Yes." "Yes." "'It was a fascinating time." "'Bavaria had a new young king, 'brought to the throne of Bavaria by the early sad death of his father." "'I knew him." "'So, high hopes, 'the things that were expected of young Ludwig." "'On the surface all was expectation and anticipation." "'A strong young king and a strong people." "'Strong enough to depose young Ludwig's grandfather 'when he shocked them by his, er, liaison with a person." "'Shocking." "A lady called Lola Montez." "'But Germany was still in a turmoil, not yet united, 'and Prussia intending to prevail 'by force of arms if necessary." "'The only state strong enough to stand in Prussia's way was Bavaria." "'Here in Saxony, Dresden, 'well, Prussia had never forgiven us 'for allowing our little revolution." "'But Bavaria, her strength lay in her people, 'eager to be led by their young king, 'looking to a new golden age, 'aware that politicians were jostling for power, 'putting themselves forward for recognition by the new young king." "'Aware that these politicians would seek to influence the King, 'perhaps towards a treaty with Prussia." "'Perhaps towards a surrendering of Bavaria's sovereignty 'for the sake of a united Germany at last." "'Lnto this cauldron of politics stepped Wagner, 'seeing only the calm surface, 'not the simmerings and seethings." "'Seeing only his swan king, 'his perfect patron at last. '" "Herr Wagner, we have searched for you everywhere." "Vienna." "We heard you were there." "Russia, Paris, Switzerland." "Everywhere." "Since Lohengrin, as a boy," "I have wished to meet you." "We intend to give you everything." "I have found you and I shall be true to you to the ends of time." "My debts are considerable." "Ah." "They amount to considerable sums." "Considerable to me." "To His Majesty they are, of course, as nothing." "I had to sell my snuff box to buy my train ticket to get here." "Ah." "Do you have a note of that?" "My refund, of course." "A house, the Briennerstrasse, fashionable but quiet, near to the King." "Big enough for me and my assistant von Bülow, his wife, her children." "His Majesty has offered me everything I need to perform my works." "He owns me and my works." "So together we shall give to the world a model." "First things... a theatre." "We must build a theatre, a real theatre." "Ah." "This is the Grail Room, the thinking room." "Yes." " You understand?" " Yes." "It is so called because... because here..." "You will find sanctuary." "We will find sanctuary." "What?" "Semper is to be sent for from Zurich to make a start on the plans." "I am to complete The Ring, then an opera called The Victors, then Parsifal in 1872, then in 1873 my happy death." "As far as the world is concerned, I'm dead already." "Work is the only thing." "There shall be no distraction." "Nothing the world can do can obtrude because we are under a prince's protection." " The first time I saw it." " Where?" "Where did you see it?" "Here, in Munich." "I was a boy, but I knew, when I saw it, it was what I'd always known." "How was that?" "Since... oh, from the first awareness," "Lohengrin must be about us, my family, us." "I know, I know." "In Bavaria, everything comes together." "The purest luck." "I intend to make up for what you have suffered in the past." "Though you cannot know, you have been the sole source of my delight from my earliest boyhood." "I have lived in waiting for the day that I might give you life." "See here." "You who spoke to my heart as no other, you are to be simply my friend, no duties, no official appointments." "Simply..." "Simply, Majesty, that I shall be the friend." "Every day, come to me." "Every day." "Forever." "Look over here." "See?" "Everything is known to me." "I have read everything there is to read on the sagas." "My imagination pictures them all." "Siegfried, Brünnhilde, Parsifal." "But most of all, for I am he, Lohengrin the Swan Knight, we will breathe life into them all together, better than this, better." "Real flesh and blood and sounds, what sounds." "First, because we are still in mourning, a few concerts." "Yes, of course." "Whatever Your Majesty commands." "Some private studyings of Siegfried." "Bülow." "Yes, Bülow." "I shall appoint him." "My prime minister Pfordten shall arrange it." "18 years ago, when you were born, Majesty..." " Friend." " Ah, friend." "Friend, yes." "...then I had not done anything." "Rienzi, Dutchman." "Ah, yes, but Rienzi was flawed, haunted by the ghost of Meyerbeer." "Your music makes kings." "Not too many of them, I hope, in Bavaria." "There is only one king in Bavaria, only one." "You will adore Tristan." "It's so simple, easy to stage." " The Dutchman first." " Of course." "Whatever you command." "I am very angry." "You are?" "Your husband Bülow is an old friend and pupil." "Apart from the pain it will cause to Bülow, to Minna, to all of us, this amour you declare could be very dangerous." "You are under the patronage of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, and that is something quite, quite splendid." "Now, you will know how wonderful life can be, la vie, perhaps yes, as it has to some extent been for me under the patronage of the Grand Duke, le duc, but there are certain obligations." "He asks nothing of me." "I don't have to wear livery." "I don't have to perform for him like a monkey on a stick." "He asks nothing of me but friendship." "I see." "Well..." "Well..." "Maintenant, I must confess... um..." " Envy?" " Cosima is my daughter." "Ma fille, Richard." "Her mother and I..." "Well..." "Well, if your friendship with Ludwig II, le roi, is..." "Is fast, safe, true." "He is a god." "A young god." "Surely that is something..." "je ne sais quoi... to be cherished." "Cosi... you must understand." "Munich, is not a great and cosmopolitan city like Paris or Berlin." "The people can be scandalised, shocked by a liaison such as you appear to contemplate." "Surely you understand that if this happens, it will damage your standing with Ludwig, destroy everything, the great opportunity you, Wagner, are at last presented with to..." "And there is the religious aspect." " The what?" " Yes." "The spirit." "Oh, I have always been concerned with the spirit." " There is much work to be done." " Yes, there is." "When Bülow is better, he will be of tremendous help." " Is he unwell?" " Yes, his nerves are shattered." "Shattered." "He reels from one sickness to another." "I've obtained a position for him at the court." "It will pass, Majesty, and even if it doesn't, the King your son can hardly come to harm by consorting with a composer of operas, some of considerable merit, I am told, all of them very German." "Is he political?" "There was Dresden." "However, the Saxons have now seen fit to permit him to return." " We are..." " Yes?" "...not disturbed." "Well, I am." "Born a Saxon." "Imprisoned for debt, I hear." "Ran away from his creditors." "Stateless." "Swiss passport, probably forged." "Now a Bavarian citizen." "I ask you..." "Your nephew, sir, the King, is filled up with romantic intentions." "He sees knights with flags trot down every lane, cross every mountain." "Not, I venture to hazard, a bad thing for a new young king not yet married." "'The more he thinks romantic, the less he will come to harm." "'Youth, I value it. '" "'He is not, this Wagner, not too much artistically inclined?" "'" "'No, no, he is a person of quite ordinary tastes." " 'Except... ' - 'Except?" "'" "'Well, his work, his music." "'Lt is considered sensual, erotic." "'Young people are seduced by it." "'But there is no reason to believe that they are seduced to acts... wayward. '" "The King's mind will be filled with thoughts of swan knights, maidens aswim in the Rhine," "Venus." "Why not?" "Why not?" "The sooner he gets married, the better." "Indeed." "Wagner must not be allowed to influence... unduly." "At the first sign..." "Very well." "Sire, might I present to you one of the sins of my youth?" "Das Liebesverbot, one of the first by a young man of 23, never properly heard to this day." "First performed, if that is the word, in Magdeburg in 1836." "The tenor could remember very little of it at the time..." "Took refuge in chunks of other..." "other operas." "Would not have happened at all had my wife not sold her bracelet to pay the copyist." "There." "That is the ship you sailed in." "Yes." "Yes, it's wonderful." " But..." " What?" " May I suggest..." " Of course." "It must be right." "Chased out by Russian Cossacks, we were." "Debts, debts." "From Riga." "On the run." "No escape but the boat." "The boat." "And then caught in a storm." "A storm so violent that it dashed against the protecting rocks, throwing up a great barrier of spray against the leaden sky." "'And then the calm." "'Peace." "'A great... stillness." "'The feeling that we were lost without a resting place, like the Dutchman... 'alone, time standing still." "'The beginning of a quest." "Peace." "A great stillness." "# Isolde" "# Tristan" " # Geliebter..." " # Geliebte..." "No..." "No, no, no, no." "No, no, no, no, no." "If you look after the little notes, the big ones look after themselves." "So try it again." " # Bist du mein?" " # Hab' ich dich wieder?" " # Darf ich dich fassen?" " # Kann ich mir trauen?" "No, no. "Bist du mein?" Do you realise what it means?" ""Art thou mine?" It's a confession of love." "Let's have some passion in it." "Try it again." " # Bist du mein?" " # Hab' ich dich wieder?" " # Darf ich dich fassen?" " # Kann ich mir trauen?" " # Endlich!" "Endlich!" " # An meiner Brust!" " # Fühl' ich dich wirklich?" " # Seh' ich dich selber?" " # Dies deine Augen?" " # Dies dein Mund?" " # Hier deine Hand?" " # Hier dein Herz?" "# Bin ich's?" "Bist du's?" "Ist es kein Trug?" " # Ist es kein Traum?" " # Ist es kein Traum?" "# O Wonne der Seele" " # O, süße... #" " No, no." "Just remember the words." "Remember what the words mean." "Forget the music for a second." "Just look at the words." "You must remember that the words are equally as important as the music." "It is, after all, meant to be poetry." "I hope it is." "So let us think the words and the meaning will then be perfectly obvious." "We mustn't just get mellifluous like those funny Italian operas." "Let's try again." " # Bist du mein?" " # Hab' ich dich wieder?" " # Darf ich dich fassen?" " # Kann ich mir trauen?" " # Endlich, endlich!" " # An meiner Brust!" " # Fühl' ich dich wirklich?" " # Seh' ich dich selber?" " # Dies deine Augen?" " # Dies dein Mund?" " # Hier deine Hand?" " # Hier dein Herz?" "# Bin ich's?" "Bist du's?" "Ist es kein Trug?" " # Ist es kein Traum?" " # Ist es kein Traum?" "# O Wonne der Seele... #" "Maestro." "Does this high C have to be..." "It's very difficult." "If you can't sing the high C, we will put it lower." "Take it a little faster and a little softer." "You don't need the fortissimo." "Try it again." "# O Wonne der Seele" "# O süße, hehrste, kühnste, schönste, seligste Lust... #" "I don't know whether your voices are tired, but you're shouting." " But it's so high, Maestro." "We're forced to." " There's no line." "How can we sing this top C and then these things?" "If you cannot sing the top C, we will find somebody who can sing the top C." " Well, I'll think you'll find it rather difficult." " Let's not lose our tempers!" "Let's try again." "Shall we?" "Right turn and forwards!" "# Isolde" "# Tristan" " # Geliebte - # Geliebter" "Good, good, good, good." "Very good." "# O Wonne der Seele" "# O süße, hehrste, kühnste, schönste, seligste Lust" "That's it." "Now, you see how it works?" "It is, your Majesty, as if you were able to see your dreams, I would hope by placing of a proscenium within a very wide proscenium directing the gaze of the spectator towards the object, the illusion " "a world focusing and refocusing - until one is drawn into the illusion." "Wonderful." "Every seat in the theatre is the best seat." "Everything can be seen." " The orchestra?" " Under, under." "Unseen in a great bowl under the stage." "An amphitheatre in the Greek fashion." "Semper, can we flood it?" "Well, er..." "Herr Wagner!" "You must help me to protect him." " Who?" " Our king." " Is he in danger?" " He has a great destiny." "It's written in the stars." "Now you..." "Herr Wagner, you must protect him." "Mm, yes." " You-you do believe in the stars?" " Of course, of course." "Oh, Herr Wagner!" "Herr Wagner!" "Oh, look here." "Somebody ought to do something about that woman." "Look here." " Dangerous." " No, no." "Just silly." "Wagner is very dangerous in my opinion." "Oh, no." "Just ambitious." "Aren't you?" "Aren't we all?" "Majesty..." " It is taking so long." " Majesty?" "Tristan." "Aren't you longing to hear Tristan?" "Oh, longing, Majesty." "Longing" "There must be more room for the orchestra." "How can we find more room?" "Are you not used to full-size orchestras in Munich?" " Remove those seats." " Seats?" "Yes, the first few rows of seats." "Or do you wish us to go back to the Residenz Theatre?" "Surely, surely, Herr Bülow..." "Surely?" " We would lose more than 30 seats!" " Does that matter?" "Does it matter whether we have 30 Munich Schweinehunde in the audience more or less?" " People are waiting to see you, Richard." " Who?" "Two people." "They want you to ask the King for mercy for their son" " who's been condemned to death." " Me?" " What is she?" " Tell her to go away." "They've tried everyone else." " The King's life..." " It is dearer to me than my own." " He must be protected!" " Is he not protected?" "Do you want me to tell them to go away?" " There are more important things." " Are there indeed?" "It is your duty to help this wonderful young man to fulfil his destiny." "You must understand, Frau." "I spoke to his father and his grandfather." "I advised them that they would fall to the machinations of evil men and be destroyed." "They would not listen to me." "I can see it in the stars." "You... are his destiny!" " Do you want to see these people?" " People..." " Ah, Richard..." " Richard..." "Bülow." " It goes well?" " Yes, thank you." "This is Ferdinand Lasalle, who wishes you to intervene on his behalf so that he might marry the daughter of Baron..." "Well, sir, it is because he's Jewish." " Our son is condemned to death, sir." " Can we not go elsewhere?" " Franz, get rid of them." " Our son, sir." "I know Herr Lasalle is a friend and involved in the affair of the daughter of Von..." "We wish only to keep our son alive." "We love each other, Herr Wagner." "You must understand that - you of all people." "I must tell you this, sir." "You are ambitious." "The sort of man who does not scruple to use friends, who does not scruple to... use anybody and anything for private means." "Without her..." " I shall die." " Perhaps, perhaps." "Herr Wagner!" "Our king!" "You... must help him through the morass of evil influence, false advice given by politicians interested only in self-advancement owing allegiance only to Prussia." "You are his hope!" "Condemned to death, Herr Wagner." " Help us to keep our son alive." " Get rid of them!" "Get rid of them!" " Yes, I said it." " It is not you, not you." "They're beginning to howl, the dogs - consumed with jealousy for me." "The musicians - those that call themselves musicians." "They had nothing worthwhile in Munich until we came." "They will have everything when we leave because we give instead of take." "That is the truth of it." "What are we trying to do?" "A school so that we might produce singers like Schnorr, who can sing as well as act." "A theatre big enough, what?" "Nothing that is not essential - food, wine, clean, soft clothes so I do not erupt in..." " I am sorry." " I suggest that you... apologise to the people of Munich." "My apology is... that I have failed you." "But... if you wish me to, I shall apologise to them." " You must." " Nothing must spoil what we have." "All right, Isolde." "Filth and money." "The artwork of the future is filth and money, Wagner!" "I know it." "Is Bülow still here?" "Who gets into his wife's petticoats, eh?" "Bülow!" "Who is it who worms into your bed, eh?" "!" "Excellent." "Everyone else is a blockhead." " Wagner is the only intelligent man I know." " Indeed, sire." "There is the question of the bill for 1,000..." "Paul, ask Wagner to come and see me." "Majesty." "...Guilders." "What bill?" "The bill for the artist commissioned." "I apologise... and I have written my apology so that it might be published." "When I spoke of Schweinehunde" "I was not referring to the cultivated Munich public." "We have always shown a proper appreciation of the work of this man you are privileged to have in your midst." " Paying to have in our midst!" " Yes, paying!" "Why should you not?" "I call you Schweinehunde." "You who scheme and plot against Wagner!" "You who seek to undermine his friendship with the king!" " Herr Wagner." " Sir?" "You wait?" " The King has sent for me, sir." " Not today, thank you." "Your wares are not required today, Herr Wagner." "The King wishes to see me, sir." "His Majesty will not see you." "His Majesty sent his ADC to bring me to him." "I was at rehearsal." "That man, that man, is my enemy!" "No, no." "But, you see, the portrait..." " The King does not like it?" " Yes, but in the matter of the bill..." " He doesn't see it as the action of a friend." " I beg your pardon?" "To send his Majesty a portrait and then ask his Majesty to pay for it." "He asked me to have it painted." "My boy commissioned it." "His Majesty regards this as a gift." "He's very displeased." "Even chorus girls who give to the King anything are reimbursed, are they not?" "Certainly, so." "But you are no chorus girl, Herr Wagner." " We must remember Lola Montez." " Must we?" "She is still fresh in the memory of the people of Bavaria - that business between her and the King's grandfather." " Is it a reason why I should be concerned?" " Oh, yes, Herr Wagner." " You are being spoken of in those terms." " How disgusting." "And there are stories being circulated... about your relationship with the Baronin von Bülow." " How petty." " How true?" "I cannot answer." "I am set back on my heels always by scurrility." "I am astounded that such things should be said." "The house is being bombarded - stones at the windows." "Why?" "Herr Wagner, we love our king." "We are jealous of him." "He is ours." "You come from nowhere, bring others with you - foreigners, Protestants, people who are not from Bavaria." "It is a very ancient kingdom." "There is a bond between king and people you have been seen to come between." "He, our young king, seems to prefer your company to that of others for the proper exercise of his duties." "He seems to." "Now that is not altogether wrong provided that you are an influence for the good." "Like the beautiful Princess Sophie." "How well he rides with her." "Oh, do look at them." "He delights in her company." "The pleasure they take in each other." "Altogether good, altogether proper." "Tea, Herr Wagner." "Tea?" "I must go back to the theatre." "How goes the opera?" "How goes it?" "How is it?" "If I told you, would you understand?" "!" "Perhaps not." "I was simply being polite." "I will now be somewhat less than polite and ask..." "While the whole of Munich waits with bated breath for your Tristan And Isolde - or Siegfried, is it?" " or whatever else in years to come you will slowly and laboriously" "and, I have no doubt, very well do is it anywhere in your nature to be a little quicker and less extravagant?" "Sufficient comfort and food and reasonable wealth should surely be enough for any artist." "Actors, singers, dancers..." "Some of them can be very good on very little." "Horses do wonders with a little kindness." "I am not a horse." "Oh, no, why should you be?" "But..." "There are those who would have me removed." "Me, your friend." "Pfordten jostles... influence." "If you could see your way to influence the King..." "After all, you have your house, money, a very snug jointure." "Good heavens, anything you wish." "Would you be so kind as to... present certain political facts that I shall give you to his Majesty on my behalf?" "Minister, what do you suggest?" "As if I were some paid hireling, some little actress some kept creature in a flat on the Briennerstrasse waiting on visits and chocolates legs spread, arse cushioned, whispering your requests to my royal paramour!" " Herr Wagner!" " I assure you, sir, I am no Lola Montez." "Lolotte?" "There are suggestions, gossip..." "Do not listen." "I do not, not to gossip." "Herr Wagner's love of... silk." "That he corrupts the minds of the young with his... music." "That he wraps himself in dress lengths like a woman." "A revolutionary once, a pederast now." "Such nonsense." "Herr Wagner loves only himself." "Well?" "If he refuses to see me, it will be all over Germany in weeks." "I shall be ruined." "I have said humbly," ""Do I stay?" "Shall I go?" ""Shall I stay?" ""Your will is mine. "" "'Lf I go... 'it will be to some distant land." "'I will never return to Germany." "'For my works I will do what I can... '" "It is for six cases of champagne..." "'But I will sever completely the connection between the man... 'and the..." "Glorious Youth." " 'No... '" " You will hear more of this, I'm sure." "My master, Herr Wagner..." "Your master had his last bill paid by my king." "It is well known." ""So it is for The Friend..." ""Friend..." ""to decide." "One word and joyfully accept my fate. " What?" ""My spiritual forces" ""are at their utmost tension." ""I must know by which decision, to go or to stay," ""will bring peace to you," ""my dear one. "" "What?" "The boy is an innocent." "You will never understand our love." "Bülow looks forward to the birth of his child." "Bülow." "Ah, dear Bülow..." "There must be no more gossip." "Nothing more must reach the King." "Your boy." "How is the child?" "Strong." " You?" " Exultant." "I want to... claim that child." "A gentleman here to see you, Herr Wagner." "The name given as..." "Dr Schauss." "Are they all gathering?" "Vultures?" "Schauss!" "Shit!" "Do you all gather on the carcass?" "Herr Wagner, Madam Schwabe simply requests payment" " of the few francs extended to you in Paris." " That grotesque Jewess." "I know." "Rather than send a clerk or a distraint, I came myself." " Now you have come into substantial..." " I am a kept man!" "But surely the King and all this and your opera about to open..." "Madam Schwabe has the greatest admiration for you." "She charges..." "She charges interest!" "That is consequent on your putting your name to stamped paper, Herr Wagner." "This..." "This has come about simply because you've all heard" "I was spurned by the King!" "Spurned for a paltry few hundred guilders." "Damn you, I'll pay for the portrait myself!" "Interest!" "This bloody Jewess charges interest!" " The theatre alone will bankrupt the state." " If we allow it to be built." "I do not for the life of me see how it can be prevented." "Oh, we can." "We started so well." "Well?" "Who?" "Our young king." "So well." " Did he though?" " Did he not?" "I always thought he was a regular chap." "Well, at least he has all his wits." "Not like his brother, Otto, wandering naked around altars." "At least he does have all his wits." "Let us see if he is able to keep them." " Yes, there is something in that." " Well, there is something in that..." "'Richard must be reconciled with the King." "'Lt must happen for his good 'and for the good of the world." "'How I hope for it soon." "'Tristan And Isolde must enter the lives of everyone." "'Lt will change them." "'Show them how to suffer through love 'how to die in love 'how to live 'in the natural condition of ecstatic pain." "'And it can only reach the stage if Ludwig gives it his full support 'and embraces Wagner again as a friend and genius." "'Our hope is that this summons to the castle at Hohenschwangau 'is not another cruel rejection, not another plot by our enemies here in Munich... '" "'Dear Hans, devoted Hans, he works and works." "'Will not be taken from his task as he sees it - 'a simple task 'to show Wagner complete and perfect - 'down to the last dot and quaver for the first time ever - love." "'The King must not fail to respond." "'He must feel it also. '" "All goes well." "It will be soon." "And now that we work together again" "Majesty it will be a work... of real magic." "The changing of hatred into love." "Tristan And Isolde." "Huh?" "Does von Bülow keep up his strength?" "His is a task." "It is, Majesty, and he is indefatigable in his devotion." " He is my second self." " Wonderful." "That is devotion." "At one rehearsal, he so concentrated his energies they drained from him at its end." "He fainted clean away." "I shall reward it as I shall reward you all - you most of all." "You, my friend..." "Day of rapture!" "Tristan!" "Pen!" "Paper!" "Tristan!" "# La, la, la-la-a" "# La, la" "# La, la-a-a" "# La, la" "# La, la, la... #" "It's a girl." "Oh, Isolde..." "A letter from his Majesty." "From the King." ""How I long for this evening." ""Tristan, if only it were here." ""My love for you..." ""I need not repeat it, will endure forever. "" "There must be another letter." " Who are you?" " We are bailiffs come on distraint of goods and chattels by authority of the court..." " And monies..." " Monies." " Owing one Frau Schw..." " Schwabe." "...for which repeated requests were made." "Do you realise that today is the day of the first performance of Herr Wagner's opera by command of the King?" "!" "I am by way of being a musician myself and I have every sympathy." "I must say here and now that your music sounds a bit difficult but maybe was worth the effort." "Our cart is arriving for such items as we feel might fit the bill." "The bill, yeah." "We have taken the liberty of taking out your excellent piano." "Am I allowed to leave?" "Where do you go, if one might ask respectfully?" "Money." "You require money?" "My dear lady we're bailiffs, employed to collect, you see." "Er, the law." "Just a law, Madam Hans." " I shall get the money." " No, no, no." "It's too humiliating." "No, no, no." "You can't." "It's all over." "You can't." "Nothing connected with you or your work affords me anything other than satisfaction." "You need money." "I shall demand it." "It is my duty." "Attar of roses, I believe." "And 10 pounds is remaining." "Which can be arranged." "You are musicians." "Here." "This note will ensure tickets for the first performance of Tristan And Isolde." "It would be unthinkable to perform without a master." "Come, now, sir." "Only the perpetrator of this opera is kept under restraint." "The practitioners are still in situ." "Frau Wagner?" "Oh." "Then I shall not embarrass you." "No." "You may sign any name you wish in receipt of..." "I shall sign my own name, Baronin von Bülow." "Wife to the famous person who's mentioned so much in the pages of the newspapers?" "Am I to have the money?" "You are." "The King's coffers are seemingly as the wealth of the fields and hedgerows in respect to Herr Wagner." "He may pluck as he will." "However it must be accounted for the eventual reckoning." "Schnorr?" "Why are you not at the theatre?" " Malvina?" " She can't." "A bath." "The steam." "Her voice?" "!" "Completely hoarse." "I'm fit for nothing more in this world!" "The performance, postponed." "Just the better." "All that, all that..." "I spoke to one brave soul who attended the private rehearsal at the special request of the King." "It went on and on and on and on and not a tune in it." ""One felt... it would go on and on and on forever,"" "said the poor soul." "Five hours... of barbaric passion." " "Something simple. "" " I, for my part..." "You know." "You know..." "I doubt it if we could have guaranteed protection for von Bülow." "I believe... it must have been postponed, I do believe for fear of von Bülow being torn to pieces by the Schweinehund." "I, for my part, am sorry." "The King was so looking forward to it." " He will be impossible, impossible." " No, no." "No, no..." "We can provide protection." "We can..." "The principal singer lost her voice." "She'll never sing again, I'm told." "Her voice is ruined by the vile rubbish she was asked to utter." " That innocent people should suffer!" " The whole thing's gone too far." "Well, I, for my part, am nonetheless sorry." "The King had to have his opera." "The sooner, the better, surely." "Simply to postpone means that we should have to go through long, tediously long, agonies of frustration." "He will not settle to anything till he has had his opera." "And a new theatre." "I have gone on the supposition that given the extremely boring nature of the opera work undertaken by Herr Wagner enough will very soon be enough for a high-spirited man like our dear king." "He will soon be more interested in other things - ladies, soldiers... leading his army, taking the concern of his ministers." "Then we might point out what all this is costing - this monumental stone theatre, this new music school and then the financing of Herr Wagner for years to come - years to come!" "What's more, there is this Ring thing." "'We heard of it even in Dresden." "'The delays, the scandals 'the difficulties of mounting Wagner's latest "simple, practical opera"." "'Ln any event, they moved from the old Residenz Theatre as too small 'not just for the orchestra, but for the storm of sound Wagner had created." "'All this for an opera, the score of which had been published for at least five years." "'Only tried once before - in Vienna." "'Disaster, disaster." "'Wagner had at one time thought of writing Tristan and Isolde 'in the form of the Italian opera." "'But he did not." "'He wrote it as a single, writhing thread with not a break from its spell." "'Not at all simple, or practical, not at all." "'I looked forward to it. '" "'To fulfil the wish of my royal patron and friend," "'King Ludwig II of Bavaria, I am undertaking my autobiography." "'The contents of these volumes will be written down by my friend, 'who wishes me to tell her the story of my life." "'As the value of this autobiography consists in its unadorned veracity, 'which under the circumstances is its only justification, 'there can be no question of publication until some time after my death." "'I was born at Leipzig on the 22nd of May 1813." "'Same year as Verdi, did you know that?" "No need to mention him." "'Lt was in a room on the second floor of the Red And White Lion." "'Two days later I was baptised at St Thomas' Church." "'Well, I wasn't in fact, not quite, but it will do." "'My father Friedrich Wagner, and, to tell you the truth, he was not, but we'll say he was, 'died in October of the same year 'from the exertions of police work during the Battle of Leipzig." "'I do not remember it but I must have heard it." "'Did I?" "'Our family was not given to outward manifestations of affection, 'yet the fact that I was brought up entirely among feminine surroundings 'must have developed the sensitive side of my nature. '" "'Then... well, then it happened, it happened." "'Disgust at the sensuous nature of the music was to come." "'Feeling had no place in the theatre." "'All must be bright and light and as frivolous as possible." "'Poor Ludwig." "'His opera, you know, or so he believed." "'And so it was." "'He drowned himself years later, murdered his doctor and drowned himself, 'seeking... begging... redemption." "'Out of death, life itself, 'just as in his opera. '" " # Bist du mein?" " # Hab' ich dich wieder?" " # Darf ich dich fassen?" " # Kann ich mir trauen?" " # Endlich, endlich!" " # An meiner Brust!" " # Fühl' ich dich wirklich?" " # Seh' ich dich selber?" " # Dies deine Augen?" " # Dies dein Mund?" " # Hier deine Hand?" " # Hier dein Herz?" "# Bin ich's?" "Bist du's?" "Ist es kein Trug?" " # Ist es kein Traum?" " # Ist es kein Traum?" "# O Wonne der Seele" "# O süße, hehrste, kühnste, schönste, seligste Lust" " # Ohne Gleiche - # Überreiche" " # Überselig!" " # Ewig!" "# Ungeahnte nie gekannte" "# Überschwenglich hoch erhabene" " # Freude jauchzen - # Lust entzücken" "# Himmelhöchste Welt entrücken" "# Mein!" "Tristan mein!" "# Isolde mein!" " # Mein und dein - # Mein und dein... #" "'At the first performance, I'm told, 'the poor King became so... excited" "'that he left before the end, aboard his train, into the night." "'Quite extraordinary. '" "# Mild und leise" "# Wie er lächelt" "# Wie das Auge hold er öffnet" "# Seht ihr's, Freunde?" "# Seht ihr's nicht?" "# Lmmer lichter" "# Wie er leuchtet" "# Stern umstrahlet" "# Hoch sich hebt?" "# Seht ihr's nicht?" "# Wie das Herz ihm mutig schwillt" "# Voll und hehr" "# Im Busen ihm quillt" "# Wie den Lippen..." "Richard." "Schnorr is dead." " Which Schnorr?" " Which?" "Oh, God." "Schnorr." "Oh, God." "He was the only tenor, the only singer, the only artist." "The first singer I ever admired, the first singer with a brain." "They said that no tenor could ever sing Tristan." " They'll say that Tristan killed him..." " He could." "Schnorr could." "He was triumphant." "He was Tristan." "I shall not permit another." "Art is perhaps a crime." " Well?" " Majesty." "A king must be seen by his people." "They are jealous of him, they want him as their own." " My people loved me." " Indeed they did, sire." " They also destroyed me." " Indeed they did." "Oh, come, now, sire." "Herr Pfeuffer, as Chief of Police, what in your opinion is the mood of the people in regard to Herr Wagner?" "This meddler." "This one-time revolutionary." "Come, now, we might all be called..." "Might we?" "To be a revolutionary is often the sign of an artist." "His Majesty pardoned all revolutionaries on the occasion of the premiere of Tristan." "Yes..." "There are those who dislike Wagner and his Prussian henchman Bülow because they are foreigners, what's more, Protestants." "Second, there are those who despise the luxury that Wagner lives in." "Of course, the King is using his own money." "I mean, it is not as if there is profit to be made in this... music." "But third, there is the time that the King gives to Herr Wagner." "These are the political, military and academic classes, who may perhaps agree that art is all right in its way." "Even the King's castles, if you like that sort of thing." "But not today, not in this day and age." "To devote oneself to music and castles in the middle of the 19th century is perhaps... perhaps... foolish of the King!" "The King is not a hermit." "He is the leader of society." "He should attend court balls." "There is deep resentment among the people of Bavaria because of what they see in this young king's infatuation with this." "Well?" "Good morning, Herr Wagner." "The King desires to know that you slept well." " Herr Cabinet Secretary Lutz." " A poem." " Written by His Majesty." " Ah." ""Still true to thee I stay, imperilled friend," ""By deed revealed... nobility to me." ""Might I but thy protector be and end the evil trail that doth encircle thee. "" "Ah, Majesty." "Your wonderful poem." "I shall attempt a reply." "In verse." "What of the music?" "Lohengrin?" " I awoke to it." " Yes, yes." "Lutz, get out." "Ministers!" "I am giving a pageant tonight on the lake." "And this... this, for you." "May the blue of the sapphire be a symbol of our eternal faith." "He is asking for more money, don't you know?" "Let me say, I have a great regard for Herr Wagner." "I like his feeling for the fables." "For the past that is Germany." "I like his feeling for the folk." "But as a man, Herr Wagner does seem to leave a lot to be desired." "I'm told the man boasts he'll reconstruct the Cabinet." "Boasts of his unshakeable friendship with the King." "Boasts that he, Richard Wagner, has unlimited access to the privy purse." "It's unthinkable, unthinkable." "The effrontery of it." "My God, what's all this going to cost?" "We all have our own incomes, are people of not inconsiderable worth, but..." "We are not clerks, civil servants, lackeys, but..." " Compared to my emolument..." " I must however say..." " Indeed..." " After all the years we've served the state." "He earns more than the three of us put together." "It is suggested that I should replace Herr Pfistermeister as your personal contact with His Majesty." "You have the ear of the King." "Money will be found for you." "Rid yourself of these people, Lutz, Pfistermeister, Pfordten." "Be a monarch, be a prince." "Surround yourself with trusted men." "Seize the initiative." "Use the banner I am weaving." "Hold it high above the land." "From Munich, go forth to lead a united Germany." "Become Lohengrin." "Your Majesty." "Friend." "My enlightened German prince must be the leader of his people." "We too, the common people, have ancestors." "And their vassalage, the oppressions and indignities they have suffered are writ reeking in letters of blood." "Their blood!" "Our blood banner!" "There is something to being German altogether curious, you know." "We can take a song like Among The Meadows And Woods and set it to music in such a manner that we all dissolve in tears." "And yet when we look about us and see instead of a united Fatherland, a hotch-potch of 34 kingdoms and principalities, we are unmoved." "Why?" "Are we little people, mere servants, ruled by and subservient to our betters?" "As Christ says," ""If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off!"" "Cut it off!" "Cut it off!" "Your Fatherland is called Germany." "Love it above all, and more through action than through words." "Germany must have its place in the sun." "Wagner!" "Wagner!" "Your Majesty, this is quite simply a fearful and decisive moment." "We must arm ourselves against Bismarck." "Prussia is at the gates." "War is imminent." "You must decide between the love of your people and your friendship with this man called Wagner, this man who is despised by the Bavarian people, by every section of the community, no matter what their standing." "They despise him for his ingratitude and shamelessness with which he openly exploits the undeserved favour of your Majesty." "This person called Wagner must be got rid of at once." "His Majesty commands that I hand you this." "His Majesty commands that you leave Munich forthwith." " His Majesty commands..." " May I have time to pack?" "His Majesty commands!" "His Majesty commands!" "Bastard, the lot of you, Jews, sodomites!" "Hebrews, Hebrew Jews, sodomites!" "Arseholes!" "The whole pack of you are filth." "Filth." "That's why you have snouts, so you can find the truffles." " You swine." "No-good swine." " Control yourself, man!" "I am here in an official capacity!" "Control yourself, man!" "I am here in an official capacity." "Pigs!" "Swine!" "Ah, get out!" "'Poor Wagner, thrown out now from Munich, 'this time without even Minna to comfort him." "'Minna, Minna, who had always been at his side. '" "'Oh." "'Chased by Cossacks again. '" "'I remember," "'I remember, chased from Riga, 'the clumsy conveyance upset near a farmyard, 'and you were so severely hurt by the accident. '" "'After this, I could have no children, remember?" "'" "No." "'I don't have the facts of it, and of course she always loyally denied it, 'but the truth is, when he was being kept by the King, by Ludwig," "'I'm afraid he, Wagner, kept her very short of money. '" "Just not true." "It is not!" "'And I do regret to say it, he did not even go to her when she died. '" "I could not." "I did not."