Thursday, November 28:
We did not have a good night, rose late to see a man who had advertised his old wardrobes, etc., to us; a lot of nonsense, 5,000 florins for a soi-disant Poussin.
R. visits his business associates and finds all the books in good order. At midday the military band of the 85th Regiment comes and plays for us; after the first two pieces, Tannhäuser and Oberon, R. gets up, sends the conductor off for a meal, and himself conducts the Prayer and Finale from Lohengrin. Then he drinks with all the people out of a large tankard.
In the afternoon we take a little rest, then to the theater in Mainz after paying a visit to Mama Maier. Fidelio much better than we expected; afterward a banquet at the Mainz Wagner Society, with more military music and a choral group. We return to the hotel at about one o’clock, not over tired. Herr Schott comes into our box in the theater, is very friendly, and presides over the banquet.
Although R. finds the theater better than a few years ago, he confirms that there has been a decline in military music, and he was very indignant when he heard that in Prussia the conductor has the rank of sergeant and the players are increasingly badly paid. They also take all their tempi from the theater, dragging and hurrying. R. says, “There one sees where conservatoires can be useful; everything is influenced by the theater.”
Of theater people who always address the audience directly, he recalls the anecdote about the Jew who asked: “Why does he tell me that? Why doesn’t he tell my neighbor?”