Wednesday, February 20:
R. did not have a good night, but he goes to his work. This morning he sang to me "Fal-parsi, Parsifal." He says that during the night he sang the Idyll, up to the entrance of the theme on the cello, then he fell asleep; waking up again, he sang it from the point at which he had fallen asleep to the end. I love the days when one of us is not feeling well; we eat by ourselves, and it is always like a little celebration - yesterday we drank to the second act!
Talking about the oboe, R. calls it a naively tragical instrument. He tells me that in his speech Bismarck spoke of dueling bouts and likened Germany to an honest broker! A sad speech, though certainly in a worthy cause. Pope Leo XIII (Cardinal Pecci) has been elected; he is said to be one of the implacables. No reading in the evening. Memories of Tribschen, our good Vreneli, a rare example of her class.