Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of September 30, 1874

Overview

Richard keeps at his writing while I tend to the children, and an afternoon walk only underscores how dry and exhausted the countryside has become. We are amused and puzzled by rumors about the King’s plans, then end the day deeply moved by Anabasis, which feels to us like a breath of cleaner air than the surrounding artistic world.

Content

Wednesday, September 30:

R. goes on writing, and I work with the children. A walk in the afternoon; the whole countryside completely parched. It is reported in the newspaper that the King is only waiting for the performances in Bayreuth before setting up a regency and going on a journey to India. Strangely enough, this news coincides with the King’s request to R. to tell him exactly to the day when the performances will take place.

In the evening Anabasis, with great enchantment — it is as if one were looking into a purer air. R. praises its naïveté, its utter lack of a striving for effect. How stilted and colorless are our