Dress rehearsal; an ugly hall, poor acoustics, inadequate preliminary rehearsals; Father plays Beethoven’s concerto, leaving us paralysed; an incredible impression! Incomparable magic, not playing, pure sounds. Richard says this makes everything cease to exist. We dine together at the Hotel Hungaria. In the evening, “The Flying Dutchman”, conducted by Richter; sung in Hungarian and Italian. A great disappointment! Never before has “The Flying Dutchman” been so trimmed down, and Richter has added cymbal crashes, etc. Astonishment at this Wagnerian par excellence!
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.