Biography VI. Munich and Tribschen (1864-1870)

Miniature-6-Munich-et-TribschenBiography VI.
MUNICH AND TRIBSCHEN
(1864-1870)

Wagner fought, again and again, against financial hardship. In 1864, burdened by debt, totally desperate, the composer thought for the first time about committing suicide.

Fleeing Vienna and seeking, as always, refuge with his friends, he was taken in by Eliza Wille. Mathilde Wesendonck, on the other hand, sent him furniture and a piano.

MVRW Louis II de Baviere

Wagner hoped for a miracle and it happened: the young monarch Ludwig II of Bavaria got in touch with the composer. He expressed his admiration and showered him with material benefits. “But, thanks to my august friend, I was definitely spared from the burden of life,” then declared the artist. Wagner thus moved to Munich in the Villa Pellet on Lake Starnberg.

See as well :
– THE VILLA PELLET IN KEMPTENHAUSEN, first place of Richard Wagner in Bavaria
upon his arrival in Ludwig’s II. Kingdom (1864)

From that date, or even several times a day, the king went in person to Villa Pellet to visit his friend, or received the latter in his summer residence, the Berg castle, located nearby.

Shortly afterwards, Cosima and her daughters Daniela and Blandine went to see the composer. It seemed that, starting from this visit, Cosima and Wagner were definitely getting closer together.

WEB-Projet-Festspielhaus-MunichAt the end of 1864, enthusiastic, King Ludwig II of Bavaria officially decided to build in Munich a Festtheater, a large modern stone building on the right bank of the Isar, for the production of The Ring of the Nibelung. Several architects were considered, but the king thought of giving the plans of the future building to Gottfried Semper (also a friend of Wagner).

On 4 December, 1864, the first performance of The Flying Dutchman was set in Munich under the personal direction of Wagner. But Wagner, sure of his influence on the young monarch, exceeded the musical field and wanted to get involved in everything. From “personal” advice, to public familiarities, then … politics! It was too much for the entourage of the monarch! In February 1865, the composer experienced his first disgrace with the Court of Bavaria.

Elsewhere, happiness awaited him: the birth of Isolde von Bülow. Although officially claimed by Hans von Bülow, Isolde was the first daughter of Richard and Cosima. This birth was accompanied shortly after, on 10 June, 1865, by the premiere of Tristan and Isolde, with, as performers, the Carosfelds.

MVRW-Joseph_Albert_-_Ludwig_und_Malwine_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_-_Tristan_und_Isolde_1865f-300x229

But a few months later, in December 1865, Wagner was forced to leave Munich by order of the King. A disgrace. A new forced and coerced exile for the composer! While traveling to Marseilles, Wagner learned in January 1866 of the death of his wife Minna in Dresden from a myocardial infarction.

It was at this moment that the Tribschen years began, based on the name of the place where the villa is located on Lake Lucerne, not far from Lucerne. On 22 May, 1866, King Ludwig II of Bavaria paid him a surprise visit incognito to Tribschen for his birthday; he was disguised as Walther von Stoltzing (from The Master-Singers) !

MVRW Maitres ChanteursWhen in February 1867 Eva was born (Wagner was in full composition of The Master-Singers of Nuremberg), second child of Richard Wagner and Cosima von Bülow, Hans von Bülow again officially claimed the paternity. This did not affect the relationship between the composer and the conductor: Hans von Bülow, indeed, directed the premiere of The Master-Singers of Nuremberg at the Hoftheater in Munich, which received an extremely warm reception from the public. And already Wagner got back to the composition of The Ring of the Nibelung and finished that of the second act of Siegfried, which he had temporarily abandoned to better devote himself to the composition of Tristan.

It was at this time, in May 1869, that the composer got to know Friedrich Nietzsche who went to Tribschen for the first time. Cosima was about to give birth to Siegfried, the first son of the illegitimate couple and their third child. Ten days after the birth of his son, Wagner completed the score of Siegfried.

MVRW TribschenDuring the summer of 1869, Wagner and Cosima met the person who would become Siegfried‘s godmother: Judith Gautier, the twenty-three-year old daughter of Theophile Gautier and Ernesta Grisi (sister of the famous dancer Carlotta Grisi). Family life was going well, the couple having finally been able to regularize their situation: on 25 August, 1870, at 8 am, Wagner and Cosima’s wedding ceremony took place at the Protestant church of Lucerne.

But in Munich, Ludwig II demanded (or more exactly ordered) the production of the first drama from the RingThe Rhinegold (Das Rheingold).

The theatre that would host the production of the complete Ring of the Nibelung must be found. Maybe it will be Bayreuth?

NC/SB.

List of reference materials consulted for the realization of Section I : BIOGRAPHY

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