CONQUEST OF EUROPE AND AMERICA
That there were shortcomings it is needless to say; for everything was so new and difficult to the artists. Nor were the funds sufficient to enable Wagner to realize all his intentions. The cost of seats ($75 for the four performances—which were thrice repeated) kept many enthusiasts from attending, and the result was a deficit of $37,500.
GUSTAV SIEHR
Who created the role of Hagen in Götterdämmerung, at Bayreuth, 1876
LILLI LEHMANN
Celebrated dramatic soprano, who took part in original Bayreuth performances and was the leading interpreter of Wagner roles in America for years
SIEGFRIED IN GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG
Photographed from Max Alvary
This deficit, while it was a cruel blow to Wagner, was for the world a blessing in disguise; for it made it impossible for him to carry out his plan of reserving the future performances of the Nibelung’s Ring for Bayreuth alone. There were no available funds; so King Ludwig, who had contributed $50,000 toward the expenses of the Nibelung scenery, got the privilege of producing the whole “Ring” in Munich. Other cities soon followed, and so great was the success that Wagner permitted Angelo Neumann, manager of the Leipsic Opera, to organize a traveling Wagner Theater for producing the “Ring” throughout the cities of Germany, as well as in Italy and other countries. These performances were, fortunately, given under the conductorship of Anton Seidl, who had been Wagner’s secretary for several years, and concerning whom Wagner wrote, “No other conductor knows as he does the proper tempi [changes of pace] of my music or how the action on the stage must be suited to the music. Seidl learned these things from me. He will conduct the Nibelungen better for you than anyone else.”