Friday, February 22:
R. does no composing but works out the conclusion of What Is German? and reads it to me before lunch. Springlike weather. I walk to the theater in order to make some preparations for the festival. R. goes for quite a long walk along the road to Konradsreuth.
In the evening Parsifal with Herr Seidl; R. sings, and we enjoy some splendid, blessed hours such as no public performance could ever provide. Poor Frau Materna is asking to be released because of press persecution since her appearance at Bayreuth. R. talks of a symphony he intends to dedicate to Fidi; another theme for it occurred to him today, and he says it would be as merry and friendly as the boy himself!
To have discovered and declared that a generous and pure heart is greater than all genius, this is something for which R. praises Schopenhauer particularly.
Saturday, February 23:
R. working, I with the children. After lunch R. comes back to Mozart, and particularly Die Zauberflöte; he says that certain things in it marked a turning point in the history of art; Sarastro introduced dignity of spirit in place of conventional dignity. Certain things in Mozart will and can never be excelled, he says.
With the children to the theater in the afternoon, another dress rehearsal. In the evening we read Bismarck’s speech in its entirety. R. finds it clear and sensible, but not great; he deplores the constant adulation of the press, and the conclusion with Andrassy, he says, is like a comedy, like the buffoons and the clowns who always put on a show for the audience while the audience shouts “Bravo.” It is as if Bismarck were thinking to himself, “If I can only reduce the press to silence, then I can deal with the Reichstag,” says R., who is of the opinion that Russia should have been given maximum support.
The arrangement of the Idyll arrives and is played by R. and friend Seidl. This wonderfully delicate work now thrown out into the raw world, which is so alien to us. R. says with a laugh that what distinguishes him from today’s composers and gives them such a great advantage over him is that he cannot compose anything without inspiration, whereas they can: a great advantage.