Category: #countdown1876

R. wanted to start today on the 3rd act of Götterdammerung, but all sorts of things cropped up, and it is not so easy to get back into the thread. I go with Lusch to see the former governess of the Grand Duchess of Oldenburg regarding Italian lessons, which she…

A letter came yesterday from Marie Schleinitz, reporting the sale of the Menzel water color for Bayreuth (1,200 thalers) and at the same time the death of the charming wife of the Russian ambassador, who threw herself into the lake at Potsdam; I am very touched by what my friend…

R. still occupied with his library, I have all sorts of things to do in the house and with Lusch*. In the afternoon looking over the accounts, always a worry to me. In the evening the musicians, we settle ourselves on the stairs. “The Decameron**,” R. says to me and…

Arrival of the photographs of Marie Muchanoff, sent to me by Frau Standhartner, a moving moment, transporting me with R. into memories of her personality. “Her downfall,” R. observes, “was her inability to find words for the enthusiasm which she proved in deeds.” —  Yesterday R. talked about Nicolai, who…

R. is still occupied with the task of arranging his library. I have to take care of several errands. In the afternoon the Woodbird and Erda, two young ladies from Mannheim; intelligent and diligent, but as always study reveals how falsely they have been trained and how nobody can grasp…

R. has received a letter from Herr Ullmann regarding Lohengrin in London, and recommending the famous [Kristina] Nilsson. — R. says, “If only all these influential connections did not fill one with disgust!” …  He felt like a ghost, he said, when he was among singers—their conversation, their amusements so…