Friday, 5th (5th of February, 1875)

Visited the sick; R. has business letters to take care of, including one to the peculiar [Marriane] Brandt, who does not wish to sing Waltraute but instead Fricka. At two o’clock, Richter with his wife; he remains the same magnificent man as ever; she, however, seems strange to me, a decidedly Jewish type; the children help ease the awkwardness. –

It will soon be necessary to settle business matters; news is generally unfavorable: father’s work will incur great costs and not attract any more people to the concert, the revenue in Pest will be lower than one had hoped, in Vienna the intrigues are beginning; a new opera added to the repertoire will make rehearsals more difficult, and all such things! When I consider that the concerts themselves, in their current state, are such a sad sign of how things stand, and now to see them surrounded by difficulties, my heart breaks. Then there is the ruined Siegfried, the ever-growing troubles as we near the goal, R.’s advancing age— I can hardly bear the weight of it all on my heart.

^{Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.}