Monday, October 29:
R. had a tolerable night and works, but when he comes down to lunch he complains bitterly of abdominal pains.
On account of my eyes, I unfortunately have to interrupt my inking in of the penciled sketches, but I begin instead on the translation of Parsifal into French, and R. and I have to laugh a lot over the difficulties arising for me from this unyielding and prosaic language. We walk with R. to the neighborhood of Konradsreuth; he talks about the “magnificent, unsurpassed” fugal passage in the finale of Mozart’s C major Symphony, and deplores the way in which it is immediately followed by a banal “boom-boom,” which robs the whole thing of style. The walk is pleasant, but afterward R.’s foot is unfortunately very painful.
Herr Gross brings me some news. Baron Perfall writes that the King desires the performance of the Ring des Nibelungen as soon as possible, and in order to meet this request, Herr Seitz and others from the Munich Court Theater will be coming to Bayreuth to make an inventory and take away the things which will be needed in Munich. Friend Feustel writes, saying we should stop and consider before handing over any articles in the theater, since that would at once lead to legal action by the creditors, whose claims have been kept at bay only with the greatest difficulty. Herr v. Perfall also says that he intends to give a concert in support of the reserve fund!
Herr Porges writes that Prof. Bernays has become active in the W. Society in Munich and has signed his name to the appeal there. In the evening, the second act of Der Holländer, then the scene with Launcelot Gobbo. R. says one always ought to read these things separately, otherwise one does not really get to know them, for every pause, every comma, every period is important. Much merriment, and then much tenderness between us. R. reads Dr. Eiser’s work and is pleased with it; it reminds him touchingly of the interest his singers showed. He says he wants to bring them all together again for a banquet next year, for what they had achieved was extraordinary, considering the background from which they come and the conditions they are normally used to. He also thinks of Betz, acknowledging the excellence of much in his interpretation. Various inquiries regarding the school.