Saturday, November 30:
Departure from Wiesbaden. I leave regretting not having found time to visit the cathedral in Mainz. Poor Mathilde, cut off from us through her deafness, touches us very much.
Lovely journey along the Rhine, lovely colors, a deep impression. R. sings my father’s melody to the Lorelei and praises the vividness of his themes; we talk of him. “It is all interesting, even when it is insignificant,” and he adds, laughing, “a canto whose bass line is difficult to write.”
We pass Nonnenwerth, where my father and sister once stayed. Yesterday memories of Daniel took such a firm hold on me that I had to talk of him and his character to R., who knew him. “Euphorion,” he says.
Spoke a lot about Fidi. R. imitates his walk and takes pleasure in strange children in the corridor, since they remind him of ours.
In Cologne around 6 o’clock. We are met by Herr Lesimple and Herr Ahn, the heads of the Wagner Society, and the tenor Diener. Letters of all kinds: notes from Marie Schl. concerning Lohengrin, announcement of the death of our good Lucca. Nice letter from an Italian in Bologna, who reports that at the third performance of Tannhäuser even the italianissimi, who had so hissed the first performance because they were upset by his letter to the mayor, had capitulated and applauded, even though the performance had not been very good. Good news of the children; and from New York the news that they have already collected 5,000 dollars.
The Wagner Society here has a difficult territory, not only because Herr Hiller is powerful, says Herr Ahn, but also because he is an intriguer and, by undermining us, forestalls us in places where we might have been able to gain a little ground.
We go to bed really tired. The Hotel Disch, in which we are staying, is the first we have liked; it is very comfortable and not at all modern.