Original subtitles

'Almost penniless again,

'seeking somewhere to work undisturbed so that he might get Tristan and Isolde

'down in some shape,

'Wagner chose to go to Venice at an agreeable time of the year, or so he hoped.

'When he got there he found it gloomy.

'The gloom about him reinforced the gloom within him.

'Liszt had advised him not to go to Venice.

'Liszt was probably right.

'But here he was, with his piano and determined to work...

'could he but find lodgings, peace, quiet.

'And he was ill again with dysentery.

'And he was still on the list of wanted revolutionaries.

'Venice, part of the Austrian Empire, should have been safe,

'but all empires distrust restless men who find their names on lists,

'and Wagner knew it.

'He saw the crumbling buildings between the buildings,

'the steady lap, lap, lick, lick of the water on the stone

'and he sank deeper and deeper into himself,

'until he could stand it no longer

'and demanded the biggest apartment that could be found.

'Hang the expense.

'Space was what he needed.

'Hang the gloom.

'He would fill the space with warmth, his warmth.

'His energy must be the source.

'He would report to the Chief of Police

'and get it over just as soon as he found somewhere. '

Herr Wagner, Herr Wagner, you are come in search of rooms, sir?

Not here, not here, sir.

- Next door, if you would be so pleased, sir. - Unhand me, sir.

Through here, Herr Wagner.

Large but not too large, I fancy.

Are you... are you intent on a long stay?

There is the matter of... references.

These walls, are they filthy or are they just afflicted by the gloom?

Grey. Hangings, I must have hangings. And what furniture is there?

A small deposit, Herr Wagner.

Art and Revolution.

Judaism in Music.

Opera and Drama.

A Communication To My Friends.

- Sieg... - Siegfried.

Siegfried's Death.

And... your health, Herr Wagner?

I improve, sir.

Our Chief of Police says I am to send you packing as soon as your health improves.

Venice being under rule of Austria,

I am obliged to comply with requests to have your letters inspected.

As well as a discreet watch on those

that have come under suspicion of revolutionary intentions.

Because I admire you as an artist and a thinker, Herr Wagner,

you shall not be inconvenienced during your stay here.

- Well done, gentlemen. Rousing. Rousing. - Bravo! Bravo!

See what you can do with Verdi next.

If you devote yourself exclusively to your profession,

as the begetter of the so-called "music of the future",

then Venice is honoured to have you, sir.

And I shall say as much to that Austrian, indeed I shall.

As for the Saxon authorities, they can go to hell.

You will be watched

because I need to show my Austrian masters that I heed their instructions,

but my agents will be told to help you... if they can.

Do they copy music?

Nothing to do with her! The threads came together, that's all.

Nothing at all to do with her. Nothing. Nothing to do with Mathilde Wesendonck.

In my presence...

Do you know the story, Doctor?

Tallemant, the anecdote of the duchess and the doctor.

The doctor bleeding the duchess,

and while he was doing it she came to her senses

and told him he was an insolent fellow.

How dare he have bled her in her presence?

Permit me, sir. I am Dolgorukow. Herr Wagner...

I am your servant, sir. Zichy is my name.

Yes, we are both full of admiration for your work.

We have seen everything of yours...

I have not seen Lohengrin yet. Not been given the chance.

Lohengrin. We saw that in Vienna.

Tannhäuser we saw in Berlin. The greatest public success given to it.

Sir, you will be transported with delight

when you can find time to visit somewhere where it is being given.

'Does Karlsruhe not give it? '

'I believe they do. You may catch it in Karlsruhe, Herr Wagner.

'I would be interested in your reaction.

'Do you feel it is not necessary to see your work given? '

'I saw Tannhäuser in the rain.

'Lt did not spoil my enjoyment one bit.

'At the summer theatre, Lerchenfeld, the rain came down and I left,

'but I had, up to that moment of my departure, been transported. '

- 'Had you really? ' - 'Yes, indeed. '

'Shall you give anything here, Herr Wagner, in Venice?

- 'We leave tomorrow. ' - 'Yes. '

Where have you been, Ritter, these last months?

You've left your wife? I have needed money.

What is this of you and Cosima von Bülow?

It was a shock...

The daughter of Liszt married to my... to our friend von Bülow. Out on the lake...

- What are you babbling about? - Baron von Bülow.

Who?

Out on the lake she threatened to drown herself.

For love. For me.

You?

Liszt is gone from Weimar, so we can't expect anything from him any more.

He tells me Tristan is a delight... to him.

- You said my Tristan was wrong. - What?

Oh, God, now they're doing Rienzi.

Salute him, salute him.

I sometimes get a meal from the officers of his regiment.

- What Tristan? - I tried to write the...

So you did. That was wrong. Very wrong.

You don't know anything about... about...

The sooner they go off and fight the French, the better.

Give the French Tannhäuser, boys.

There is to be a war, Karl.

- My Tristan was not that bad an idea. - You poor booby.

I must warn you, my family has very little money left.

We cannot continue to give you any more money.

Why can't you sell something?

Oh, very well. My God, you are so tiresome, all of you.

When will you understand? Money, that's all I want from you and Liszt. Tiresome.

I shall go back to my true friends the Wesendoncks.

Do not follow me to Switzerland unless you're prepared to pay.

Tell your mother that.

See the amount I am owed for these curtains!

And I am not the only person in Venice owed money by Herr Wagner.

Months of rent he owes me. What has he left me in payment? Paper!

Take back your hangings. I don't want 'em. Have 'em.

Tristan And Isolde.

Will he dedicate it to me, do you think?

Your destination, Herr Schultz?

Paris. Why not?

- My dear fellow, how good to see you. - Wesendonck.

Tannhäuser, Wesendonck. In Paris.

They want to do it, offer me a contract. Paris at last.

The Emperor himself, very interested in German opera since his war with Austria.

I was in Venice when the Austrian army was marched away.

They went off playing... Tannhäuser.

Well, the Emperor beat them,

but has become very pro-German since, I'm told.

Do you know my piano got safely over the pass.

Not a bit out of tune.

Well, Tristan finished... and already I'm thinking of a comedy.

- Do you know about The Mastersingers? - No.

Ah. A comedy, but full of melancholy.

But to attack Paris the way the Austrians were not able to,

I shall need funds.

How... How is Frau Wesendonck?

We've had some correspondence.

I would hope to see her the longer my departure to Paris is delayed.

- My dear Wagner... - No, no. Consider it an investment.

Some small part of it in actual coin, if you would be so kind.

And do give your wife my warmest greetings...

...Wesendonck, my dear friend.

How much?

Oh, well, I...

Er...

Yes, we must have a ballet.

I shall do something about the rather tame bacchanal in the first act.

I thought I might make it more voluptuous,

give Venus more,

let us make Frau Venus a real woman.

Eroticism, music to lay bare our most secret passions,

our most sensual yearnings to incite our senses.

Yes, yes.

- Tasteful, I hope. Tasteful. - Tasteful?

Monsieur Royer, this is the first time I've been in a theatre,

on the stage of a theatre, for many years.

- In the first act... - Yes?

- You would put the ballet in the first act? - That's where it can go.

In Paris, monsieur, the ballet is always in the second act,

so the gentlemen of the town can see it.

In our experience, ballet in the first act is too early, in the third, too late.

The gentlemen of the town have already gone elsewhere for their, their...

No, a ballet in the first act will not attract the town.

There you have it, Monsieur Wagner.

Please meet Petipa. He will design your ballet. Please, he will explain.

- Monsieur Wagner. - Er, Petipa.

Monsieur Petipa is the ballet master.

Whoremaster.

Might one say, Herr Wagner, that in Paris, gentlemen dine at eight?

Well, er, the orchestra?

Competent, I think. Quite a number of them are German.

Well, they're the best in the world.

Because they dine at eight,

they can repair to the opera in time for the second act,

where they expect to find a ballet,

as they will find tonight in Nabucco,

as you see, er...

- You are ill-advised, Herr Wagner. - I never accept advice.

- I advise you! - Oh, do you?

- From my heart! - Ah! Deep-felt?

You, er... We're accustomed to a ballet in the second act in Paris.

And the members of the Jockey Club,

they will not accept your opera should it not have, er...

Let me tell you this, Herr Wagner,

without the Jockey Club's attention we are lost, lost, lost!

And that is fact.

- Is it? - Absolutely fact!

Ah! Then which act will the Emperor wish to see?

If these gentlemen only wish to see a second act, I shall make that the best act.

I beg your pardon, the Emperor will wish to see the entire opera, of course.

Then entire he shall see it.

Note on note, every sound,

every note as I intend it, in the place I intend it to be.

That does not mean I shall give way

to gentlemen who'd rather see Verdi in underthings,

rather lech among the sprites than listen to them!

How well does Verdi write second acts for brothels?

- Does he prosper? - Brothels?!

If they can do this to a revolutionary like Verdi,

what are they going to do to me, Hans?

Well, we ain't going to let them, Hans, not an inch do we give the whoremasters!

It goes... it goes well.

It is a mistake, is it not, Richard?

I am beyond Tannhäuser.

But it is yours, and you are given this opportunity to do it, here in Paris!

What is this?

Tannhäuser.

I'm revising the whole thing. Well, most of it.

Indeed, some of it. The, er, tone of it.

- Its colour. - Why?

So it'll seem the more sensual.

This?

Ah, a gift from an admirer.

On Wednesdays I am at home.

Minna, it might please you to attend.

I now have a public position, which you, as wife, must share with me.

- But this part of the apartment is mine. - I am your wife!

- Yes, of course you are. - Well, where has the money come from?

That is no concern of yours. I must be able to receive people.

My soirées are attended by brilliant and gifted people with influence.

- Women admirers? - Don't be silly!

Admirers, supporters, subscribers. I cannot appear to be less than they.

Meyerbeer gives money away by the cartload.

As if it were done, which indeed it is.

And you do not soil your hands in such... dung, I take it?

These are going to be your rooms.

I will expect you to stay in this part of the house.

But I hope you will make an appearance when we have guests.

Just an appearance. There's no need to be involved in anything.

You, er, you have a maid.

Two pianos?

Where does the money come from?

I have a contract for nine months. I give concerts.

All these copyists!

You were forced to work as a copyist once, now you employ them by the regiment!

- How can you pay for them? - They are paid. They are necessary.

There is new music. A ballet.

Much to be done between Venus and Tannhäuser.

In French.

If the music sticks, it's going to be a devil of a job to change this back into German.

That awful Venus, I'm never able to accept her!

No, and I doubt you ever will.

Are you given money by Wesendonck?

- I have been. - And what are you given by his wife?

I shall not suffer that again! Go to your rooms!

I do not expect you to enter these rooms unless you are invited.

I must sit down.

I feel faint.

I would not wish you to be responsible for my death.

Go!

No! Stop! Stop! Stop!

No! No! No!

Again! One, two.

Go! Go! And go!

Go!

Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!

More fire! Passion!

Gentlemen!

Gentlemen. Gentlemen!

We are not Prussian soldiers, but free men!

Be so kind as to explain what you mean by that, sir.

Herr Wagner, the time has come to say to you,

after interminable rehearsals, sir,

some hundred or so to date, sir,

we refuse to be drilled like Germans!

Even those of us who are Germans!

I shall need more rehearsals from all of you, not less.

I shall supply you with lunch and wine,

and I shall pay you extra, out of my own pocket.

Bravo! Bravo!

Yes, yes.

Sorry, my fault.

I am Albert Niemann. I will sing Tannhäuser.

I'm Richard Wagner. This is my assistant, Hans von Bülow.

- Do you want me? - Mm... it is a thought.

I am the greatest!

- I hear that you are. - What's the fee?

I shall hear you first.

An audition! To give auditory trial!

Well...

I know the role backwards!

Interesting. How does that sound?

Hör an, Wolfram

Hör an

Inbrunst im Herzen

Wie kein Büsser noch

Sie je gefühlt

Sucht' ich den Weg nach Rom

Ein Engel hatte, ach!

Der Sünde Stolz

- Dem Ubermütigen entwunden

- Für ihn wollt'ich in Demüt büssen

- Das Heil erfliehn, das mir verneint

Um ihm die Träne zu versüssen

- Die er mir Sünder einst geweint!

Wie neben mir der schwerstbedrückte Pilger

Die Strasse walt' erschien mir allzuleicht -

By refusing to have a ballet in the second act,

you have lost the services of the principal dancers.

- That is so. - Why?

They will not appear.

I can obtain for you three Hungarian dancers.

Monsieur Wagner, we beg of you, reconsider!

No! You will have your ballet, but it must be in the first act.

I must portion it in the first act.

You will play to an empty theatre!

- You are being used! - That does not happen to me.

There's more to this - Tannhäuser, political complexities...

I rejected politics, they're nothing to me.

It is even said that although France won the war,

there was a clause in the peace treaty

which imposed a production of Tannhäuser on Paris.

Huh, a German opera, at the command of the French Emperor,

influenced, some say, by an Austrian Princess Metternich.

Can't imagine why. I've heard she can't tell a fugue from a flugelhorn.

But you must have friends.

I've already been approached! I refuse, I refuse to employ them!

Then you risk a great deal.

All this concertising, simply to make money!

Bits and pieces, my dear, bits and pieces!

Herr Wagner! You deal with a Jewess.

If you want money, you must sign a note! It is necessary!

Yes, in the case of such a person as Madame Schwabe it is certainly necessary.

Why, sir, would it not be? I lend you money.

You have taken a journey into the music of the future.

- Isn't that what he says? - Hmm.

You give me a promissory note.

Ah, I do indeed. For the sum of 3,000 francs.

The whole thing is too long! Too high and too long!

The score must be cut, Herr Wagner!

We are doomed to failure unless you cut, cut, cut!

I shall want to get through my role as quickly as possible!

Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi! My voice, you see!

This is my opera, and unless you consider it so,

then scout out for another Tannhäuser!

Well, take it down an octave. Change a few notes.

Anything. It's only music, after all.

Monsieur Royer, I must conduct the orchestra myself.

I've had 164 rehearsals with the orchestra,

and now, within days of giving my Tannhäuser,

I'm told I'm not allowed to conduct.

Listen to it, do!

The musical director must conduct his own orchestra!

His orchestra! Mine! I sharped it! And the corps de ballet is a disgrace!

- Oh, it is! - It is not!

- Indeed it is! - Look at that lumpish... lump!

Oh, yes!

I compose music for a wild dance.

Wild, bold, sensual... And look! What do I have?

- Indeed! - If there's no ballet in the second act,

consider a dance intermezzo between acts...

- No, no, no! ... to show their charms to the admirers...

A pas de trois?

I am patronised by the Emperor.

Yes, because he wishes to placate the republicans

by showing favour to one such as yourself!

He's persuaded by Princess Metternich

that he should hear Wagner at last.

Wagner, do you understand? Paris is to see Wagner.

Wagner - a serious and dedicated artist - among this!

There's dislike of the influence of Princess Metternich, who's Austrian.

I know she is Austrian. We speak the same language, to some extent.

Ah, Petipa! I'm in despair. Look at that!

Monsieur Wagner, I am the finest ballet master in the whole of France.

Monsieur Sax informs me there are not 12 French horns in the whole of Paris.

- It is true. - Then they must be made.

What? I cannot do it in time! Might I suggest...

Petipa, don't you understand what I've written? It is a bacchanal!

Yes. But if I try to do it...

...I would need all the premier dancers, and even so,

were I to ask them to give what you demand,

the passion you expect, and your music indicates...

Were I to, Monsieur Wagner,

in their tutus,

we would simply end with the can...

Cancan.

'Paris is the centre of the musical world.

'Lt cannot be helped.

'And Paris is not German.

'Ln Europe, a success in Paris is desirable -

'scores sold,

'works taken up and given.

'Wagner was well aware of the importance of the occasion,

'well aware,

'as he faced his first opening night

'for 16 years. '

- Herr Wagner? - Sir?

- I am here to wish you success. - Thanks.

- You are sure of it. - Thank you.

I can guarantee it.

Sir, I do not intend to pay you anything.

You or any other member of your claque.

Well, I can guarantee nothing.

I, however, can guarantee everything.

I'm well aware that you, sir, have these in your pocket.

- Do you talk to me, sir? - Herr Meyerbeer, I do talk to you.

Shall I speak in Hebrew so your friends might understand?

I've never borne you ill will, Herr Wagner.

As a younger man, I did you some service.

The service was indeed slight, but I thank you for it.

Any person of discrimination would have done the same.

Obviously, my work had to be recommended, even by you.

There is nothing wrong with packing the house with friends.

I don't buy friends, or praise.

From what one hears, the flow of money goes one way only, Herr Wagner.

I read your pamphlet on Jewry In Music.

It was written with such as you in mind.

You used my name. Several times.

- How did you find the argument? - I found it clever, but offensive.

I prefer to consider it the work of a bitter and frustrated man. I shall ignore it.

I have had letters from Jewish musicians

pleading for a way out of their misery.

- Thus presented to them. - You'll have no letters from me, sir.

I take it you paid for your ticket?

One should always do one's best for one's fellow musicians.

Let me reimburse you for what will probably be a disappointing evening.

Oh, come now, Tannhäuser is quite a good piece.

Overlong, but quite well-crafted.

It is wonderful and wonderfully given. It is all I would wish it to be.

That will be your disappointment sir, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle!

'Oh, the things that have happened to us in the past.

'I try to put them out of my mind,

'but they're always there at times such as these.

'Frightening, shameful, terrifying things.

'We have both fled.

'We have both been hunted down for debt, for intrigue, for debt.

'The Cossacks, always on our heels.

'I know,

'even at our moments of greatest security,

'even when success trembles.

'Please, please. '

Get on with it! You idiot!

'Oh God, not again, not again! '

- Hör an, Wolfram!

- Hör an

- Inbrunst im Herzen

- Wie kein Büsser noch

- Sie je gefühlt... -

Well?

Politics.

Niemann wasn't good enough, was he?

Quite.

When you're recovered you must go to live in Dresden.

Perhaps. You?

Not sure.

Princess Metternich is attempting to obtain for me a passport.

Perhaps I shall be allowed back in Germany at last.

I shall not stay in Paris.

Vienna, perhaps.

I hate the French above all others.

Such disgusting behaviour!

Yes.

If I am accorded a passport, I will visit you.

As you wish.

I intend to take the waters in Soden.

That I knew. I have it arranged with Pusinelli.

You despise me.

- No. - I hate you.

Minerl, Minerl, you don't.

Perhaps.

Bülow is trying to persuade the Grand Duke of Baden to have me in Karlsruhe.

I shall, er, I shall ask for a small pension.

Do we like Karlsruhe?

Perhaps.

Tristan and Isolde, perhaps.

That miserable moan. That disgusting moan!

My husband wrote that, that filth, that drug,

when he was besot with Mathilde Wesendonck.

Culture carrion!

And impossible to perform.

I know. You will not find a singer to sing it, I know.

Maybe.

Richard.

Promise me no more lewdness with women.

No more infatuations with women like Frau Wesendonck,

promise me.

Minerl.

You're cruel, heartless.

I'm glad I'm going away.

'Bülow, what will you do now? '

'I'm offered a post in Berlin. They think of starting an orchestra there.

- 'Berlin. And you? ' - 'Switzerland, perhaps. '

I must leave Paris. That I know.

Paris. Look at it, Bülow.

There's a market for anything in Paris. Even the leavings from the tables of the rich.

Smuggled out by servants. Still sauced by their master's spit, no doubt.

Back-door bones from restaurants.

Paris won't pick on my bones, even if I have to concertise.

Paris can afford anything. Can buy anything. Anything. Buy it and waste it.

We are gentlemen of the three ins, Bülow.

In debt, in danger and in poverty. Two are enough for any man.

'Wagner became a journeyman again,

'concertising, seeking a settled existence, a place to work,

'a patron to pick up his bills,

'a theatre to offer him welcome.

'Always in his mind there nagged a thought

'that somewhere there was a person

'with the vision and the courage to offer him everything he might need

'to realise his ideas.

'No state in Germany would open its doors to him.

'The insignificant princelings Wagner and his friends had challenged

'were banded against him.

'Everywhere that he went, his piano went as well.

'But most of all, he needed time.

'Money to buy time.

'His operas were given, true,

'but the income from them was small.

'He was becoming increasingly desperate

'that he would never be given the chance to do the great work

'he knew would assure his place.

'But first he tried Switzerland again.

'Tried Wesendonck again. '

Your wife?

Not good.

Yours?

Frau Wesendonck?

She enjoys excellent health.

Yes, good.

And your health?

Mine?

Your afflictions.

Yes, yes.

The usual.

- Your skin. - What did you say?

Hm?

I hope to complete Siegfried.

And for Rheingold and Valkyrie?

24,000 francs would be an excellent investment.

I do assure you, Otto, you will be the person who gains.

The Ring is going to be a tremendous piece.

You are to be my business partner with The Ring.

I'll throw in Meistersinger.

Soon finish that if I can get a pension...

and somewhere to live.

Investment in what, Wagner?

I already hold publishing rights to The Ring.

- Investment in what? - In me.

In me, damn you. In me.

Perhaps.

Have you tried Vienna?

On the other hand, I know any reputable money-lender

would show you some courtesy on my encomium.

Thank you, Wesendonck,

but I will not take money from those who have no conception of my worth.

I'm not a swindler.

The Grand Duke of Baden is thinking of placing his theatre at my disposal.

- Is he? - That's why I'm here in Vienna.

- To look for singers for my opera Tristan. - I shall see you don't find them.

- Ah, but, Your Highness, I... - Why not give us your opera here?

- Ah, but, er... - In Vienna we can do it so much better.

- Your Highness, - Hanslick, this is Herr Wagner.

Your Highness.

One of the most important critics in Vienna, Herr Wagner.

I have a great admiration for you, sir.

- Dr Hanslick is a very prominent critic. - I know him, ma'am.

My dear Wagner, we must all learn to deal with our critics.

Artists and royalty are expected to smile.

He has attacked me and my work Tannhäuser viciously and persistently.

He is a pedant, a time-server.

One day I shall show him what he is. I'll put him in a synagogue.

My dear Wagner, the Grand Duke is not interested in Tristan And Isolde.

He is interested in you.

He sees you as a political feather in his cap.

He has told me as much.

You are the German composer who was patronised by the Emperor Napoleon.

You will find that carries a great deal of weight with minor German princelings.

Frau Kapellmeisterin.

Sir.

Herr Doctor, is that...

Yes.

- He owes me money. - He owes us all money.

- Is she ill? - Yes.

She comes every day to petition the minister to allow Wagner back.

Were we not all revolutionaries? I ask you that.

I was his oboist, heaven help me.

I sought change, heaven help me.

I really want to help, but...

Well, if there's nothing in Berlin, I may as well try Russia.

- Tristan? - In Vienna? With the Princess?

Hopeless. I continue to work on it.

It's a simple piece, but the difficulties...

That tenor will never be able to sing it. Doesn't understand a word of it.

Never been in love in his life.

I rewrite and rewrite to suit his voice.

Meistersinger is the thing.

Some money, anyway.

And a household around me.

I've arranged it for piano. It might be something.

You could sell your fur coat.

He can't go to Russia without a fur coat.

Got it cheap. From a Jew in Vienna.

He asked 220 thalers.

I told him, I explained to him that I'd only been given 200 thalers for the concert.

So therefore he knocked 20 thalers off the price.

I could sell this... if only I could find a Jew in Berlin.

The Grand Duke of Baden gave it to me.

I asked him for a pension and a house,

a modest retainer so that I might settle to Meistersinger,

and he gave me that.

In Vienna they told me that Tristan is unperformable.

Rheingold, Valkyrie,

two acts of Siegfried, almost.

But not the music, not yet.

But it's there, if only I can settle long enough.

Oh, I'm so weary.

I came near to doing away with myself.

Maybe I shall.

Not until you've at least heard my piano arrangement of Meistersinger.

Weitzman is your Jew. He can sell anything.

I shall take it to him now.

At least you will have some money to get you to St Petersburg.

My dear fellow.

Frau Kapellmeisterin,

the minister is not able to see you today.

Would it be convenient... Might you call back tomorrow?

Illness keeps us apart.

I would like to be with my husband...

but I cannot travel.

'Well, my poor good Mutz, my Minerl, my good soul.

'How do you find yourself?

'I work and work in Russia,

'find myself soaked to the skin on numerous occasions,

'find myself enduring all the so-called joys of travel,

'always beset by companions

'wherever I can find someone to let me stand in front of an orchestra

'and wave a baton, a wretched baton.

'How does your health? Be patient and it will improve, of that I'm sure.

'Let me know all of your treatments in detail.

'I'm interested in their workings.

'I still suffer, but so it goes. So keep fond of me.

'Goodbye, good old Frau Minna.

'Warmest sympathy from your Richard. '

'You're afraid. '

'Yes, I am.

'The way you would wish to change everything.

'Think more of your position, Richard, and less of changing everything.

'You hack away and hack away and you're not in a position to.

'You sit on the branch and hack at the tree. I'm in the tree with you. '

'My worst enemy is here in my own house. '

'Oh, no.

'Not I.'

He's so... so always in a turmoil.

Schemes, ideas, not his business!

It is his business to present music for the King.

That's all and enough for anyone.

Dresden is one of the foremost theatres in Germany.

We are so lucky.

'Kindness! I don't want kindness. I want money and I want a theatre.

'I've plays, ideas for plays, ideas for reform.

'They're well-thought-out ideas. What happens to them?

'My report on the state of the Royal Orchestra. What about it?

'Three months to prepare, not even read by the King.

'My ideas for a national theatre of Germany. What about that?

'Not taken seriously. '

'Well, if there isn't a Germany. '

Please. Calling on the soldiers not to fight us.

Idiots...

'You know that nobody will be able to stage it. '

- 'Do I? ' - 'Yes. '

- 'You... ' - 'Me? '

'You mock me for my seriousness.

'But if one is not serious about work, what then? Desolation.

'There is a stage. It is out there. It is going to happen. '

'Wagner did go back to Vienna,

'destitute again,

'all he had earned gone

'and very little coming in.

'But once again he found friends,

'sought out Jews who would advance him on security of his friends.

'Found another woman.

'Settled to his stated task

'of mounting Tristan And Isolde in Vienna.

'While here in Dresden we began to listen sympathetically

'to the pleadings of Frau Wagner,

'her husband employed seamstresses by the score

'stitching him into silk. '

I was an enormous success in St Petersburg.

Oh, really?

This... This modest establishment in Vienna,

my favourite city in the world,

where all my friends are.

But I do need that our house -

your house, now my house -

be kept in order,

the cellars full.

To this end, my present wife being unwell, unable to take care of me,

perhaps I will divorce her.

I ask you to marry me, Friederike.

- Richard. - Thank you.

His Majesty has again considered the case of Herr Wagner,

and in view of the great esteem that your husband is afforded throughout Germany,

His Majesty is inclined to grant an amnesty

so that Herr Wagner might visit you here in Dresden,

in the city which was first to recognise his genius.

- Isolde

- Tristan

- Geliebte...

How dare you?

Sister?

How dare you come into the same theatre as me?

I? And why not?

I have my reputation to think of. You are his mistress.

I shall not rehearse while you are in the building.

Herr Wagner, Master, I am unwell. My voice is in shreds.

I am not able to sing Tristan.

I am free.

I can go back.

Minna?

Minna?

It is I. Richard.

You have come.

Yes.

How is it here?

Pleasant... when I am well.

And you are not?

I'm better now.

We have prepared a bedroom for you.

Natalie.

Richard, she is very proud to have recovered your old desk here in Dresden.

- Yes. - She hopes you still remember it.

- Will you stay? - A study...

I expect you still owe everyone money.

I expect I do.

You demand 3,000 marks a year from me and what do you provide in return, hm?

A settled household, hm?

Vienna is an opportunity.

Best I've had yet.

The city is welcoming,

the theatre is...

Oh, it's a chance, Minna. A good chance.

If I can manage to put Tristan on...

Why, it's a simple piece,

written to appeal to the public

and be taken up and done everywhere.

There's nothing very complicated about it.

It must be very successful.

Though it is, as I say, a hazard.

The work is immoral.

All I wish from you is that you run my house for me

so that I might work, nothing else.

And what do you offer in return?

I've always offered you respect and friendship.

You once offered love.

You once... gave love.

I was always at your side.

Your devoted wife.

You cannot attack me.

I do.

I accuse you of cruelty, of infidelity and inadvertence.

All that I ask is that you provide a home for me, a settled home.

For you to come back to?

Perhaps.

You have thrown away every opportunity offered to you.

A respectable life under the patronage of the court.

- In Dresden. - Yes.

Where I was a liveried servant.

I was respected as Frau Kapellmeisterin.

Now you are respected as Frau Wagner.

I am...

Frau Wagner.

Yes, you are.

You are.

"In the morning I shine in rosy radiance.

"Soon all is lost from blood and fragrance.

"What was won quickly is soon turned sickly. "

"Open to all was this garden of mine, both to the beastly and to the fine.

"Just bearably in this space I'll be.

"Coinage, lead juice are the fruits of my fee.

"From pillories the aspirant calls me. "

"On airy paths hang I from the tree. "

- Second chapter. - Meistersinger.

Hanslick, you're portrayed in it. You should feel very proud.

It's not often a critic is advanced for immortality.

I've called him Beckmesser.

I had thought of calling him Arselick, as in Hanslick.

- Is this the house of Richard? - Wagner.

Thank you.

- A dressing gown. - Where does he find the money for it?

He has been to every Jew in Vienna.

And this is what he does with it?

All of this? Richard, how can you afford all this?

The simple answer is, my dear Peter, that I can't.

My dear Tausig. You look so unwell.

Oh, I've just agreed to stand surety for Richard. Signed as much.

I have agreed to cover some of his debts.

We're looking for Richard Wagner.

Frau Schott, Frau Schott.

Frau Schott, wife to my publisher, meet Dr Standhartner, physician to the Empress.

You will have lots to talk about.

Herr Schott, Herr Schott, you know Cornelius.

Peter, Herr Schott refuses to advance me any more money any more.

- I am not... - No, you are not, you are not.

Peter...

Peter, you are the only real friend here.

Listen. We must live together. We must.

Live with you? Richard, you destroy your friends. Look at them.

You are generous. Too generous.

But you take everything from your friends. Everything.

Their money, their women, their love. Everything.

What are friends for?

They've set the bumbees on me.

They're here to dun me. I'm ruined. What can I do?

A miracle must happen, otherwise it is finished.

- Then you must run. - Where?

- You've had your last penny from me. - What kind of a publisher are you?

You don't need a publisher. You need a rich banker or a prince with bottomless coffers.

I'll talk to them.

You go, Richard. Go.

My name is Tausig. I am surety for Herr Wagner.

And who, if I may ask, is surety for you, Mr Tausig?

- Gentlemen. - Mr Tausig.

Good heavens.

Your Majesty. The strangers list from the Chief of Police.

Every stranger in Munich today.

Is he on it, Pfistermeister?

No, Your Majesty, although there are several Wagners and even one Richard.

After all, it is a very common name.

But this one is far too young, a mere youth of 19, a boy...

If he isn't going to come to us, you'll have to go to him.

- Majesty. - I can't wait another minute.

Not another day.

'24,000 francs would be an excellent investment.

'I do assure you, Otto, you will be the person who gains.

'The Ring will be a tremendous piece.

'You are to be my business partner with The Ring.

'I'll throw in Meistersinger.

'Soon finish that if I can get a pension...

'and somewhere to live. '

'Investment in what, Wagner?

'I already hold publishing rights to The Ring. Investment in what? '

'Ln me. In me, damn you, in me. '

Ah, Herr Wagner.

A gentleman has been making enquiries about you.

- Name? - Not given.

- Official? - Very.

Come up for my luggage in ten minutes. I'm leaving.

'Thank you, Wesendonck,

'but I will not take money from those who have no conception of my worth.

'I'm not a swindler.

'I can't live like this,

'the miserable life of a town organist,

'like Master Bach.

'I must have beauty, splendour, light around me.

'I am not as others.

'I have nerves that are as sensitive as touch.

'The world owes me a consideration

'and yes, yes, luxury.

'Ls it such a shocking request that I, who have so much enjoyment to give the world,

'should ask for some little comfort in return? '

Come in, my luggage is ready.

Herr Richard Wagner, musician and composer?

Yes, yes, I am he.

My card, sir.

Private secretary to the King of Bavaria?

I have that honour.

Pfistermeister, sir.

A young man, just come to the throne, everything before him.

He has everything he needs, he is denied nothing.

As the ruby glows in the ring,

so the heart of His Majesty burns with desire

to greet the poet of Lohengrin.

His portrait.

He wishes to see you at once.

He desires you to accompany me to Munich.

Can you be ready for the five o'clock train?

Ah.

Herr Wagner, I shall expect you.

Good day, sir.

Yes.

Yes.

'It was a fascinating time.

'Bavaria had a new young king,

'brought to the throne of Bavaria by the early sad death of his father.

'I knew him.

'So, high hopes,

'the things that were expected of young Ludwig.

'On the surface all was expectation and anticipation.

'A strong young king and a strong people.

'Strong enough to depose young Ludwig's grandfather

'when he shocked them by his, er, liaison with a person.

'Shocking. A lady called Lola Montez.

'But Germany was still in a turmoil, not yet united,

'and Prussia intending to prevail

'by force of arms if necessary.

'The only state strong enough to stand in Prussia's way was Bavaria.

'Here in Saxony, Dresden,

'well, Prussia had never forgiven us

'for allowing our little revolution.

'But Bavaria, her strength lay in her people,

'eager to be led by their young king,

'looking to a new golden age,

'aware that politicians were jostling for power,

'putting themselves forward for recognition by the new young king.

'Aware that these politicians would seek to influence the King,

'perhaps towards a treaty with Prussia.

'Perhaps towards a surrendering of Bavaria's sovereignty

'for the sake of a united Germany at last.

'Lnto this cauldron of politics stepped Wagner,

'seeing only the calm surface,

'not the simmerings and seethings.

'Seeing only his swan king,

'his perfect patron at last. '

Herr Wagner,

we have searched for you everywhere.

Vienna. We heard you were there.

Russia, Paris, Switzerland. Everywhere.

Since Lohengrin, as a boy,

I have wished to meet you.

We intend to give you everything.

I have found you

and I shall be true to you to the ends of time.

My debts are considerable.

Ah.

They amount to considerable sums. Considerable to me.

To His Majesty they are, of course, as nothing.

I had to sell my snuff box to buy my train ticket to get here.

Ah.

Do you have a note of that? My refund, of course.

A house, the Briennerstrasse, fashionable but quiet, near to the King.

Big enough for me and my assistant von Bülow, his wife, her children.

His Majesty has offered me everything I need to perform my works.

He owns me and my works.

So together we shall give to the world a model.

First things... a theatre.

We must build a theatre, a real theatre.

Ah.

This is the Grail Room, the thinking room.

Yes.

- You understand? - Yes.

It is so called because... because here...

You will find sanctuary.

We will find sanctuary.

What?

Semper is to be sent for from Zurich to make a start on the plans.

I am to complete The Ring, then an opera called The Victors,

then Parsifal in 1872, then in 1873 my happy death.

As far as the world is concerned, I'm dead already.

Work is the only thing. There shall be no distraction.

Nothing the world can do can obtrude because we are under a prince's protection.

- The first time I saw it. - Where? Where did you see it?

Here, in Munich.

I was a boy, but I knew, when I saw it, it was what I'd always known.

How was that?

Since... oh, from the first awareness,

Lohengrin must be about us, my family, us.

I know, I know.

In Bavaria, everything comes together.

The purest luck.

I intend to make up for what you have suffered in the past.

Though you cannot know, you have been the sole source of my delight

from my earliest boyhood.

I have lived in waiting for the day that I might give you life.

See here.

You who spoke to my heart as no other,

you are to be simply my friend,

no duties, no official appointments.

Simply... Simply, Majesty, that I shall be the friend.

Every day, come to me. Every day.

Forever.

Look over here. See?

Everything is known to me.

I have read everything there is to read on the sagas.

My imagination pictures them all.

Siegfried, Brünnhilde, Parsifal.

But most of all, for I am he, Lohengrin the Swan Knight,

we will breathe life into them all together,

better than this, better.

Real flesh and blood and sounds, what sounds.

First, because we are still in mourning, a few concerts.

Yes, of course. Whatever Your Majesty commands.

Some private studyings of Siegfried.

Bülow. Yes, Bülow. I shall appoint him.

My prime minister Pfordten shall arrange it.

18 years ago, when you were born, Majesty...

- Friend. - Ah, friend. Friend, yes.

...then I had not done anything.

Rienzi, Dutchman.

Ah, yes, but Rienzi was flawed, haunted by the ghost of Meyerbeer.

Your music makes kings.

Not too many of them, I hope, in Bavaria.

There is only one king in Bavaria, only one.

You will adore Tristan. It's so simple, easy to stage.

- The Dutchman first. - Of course. Whatever you command.

I am very angry.

You are?

Your husband Bülow is an old friend and pupil.

Apart from the pain it will cause to Bülow, to Minna, to all of us,

this amour you declare could be very dangerous.

You are under the patronage of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria,

and that is something quite, quite splendid.

Now, you will know how wonderful life can be, la vie,

perhaps yes,

as it has to some extent been for me

under the patronage of the Grand Duke, le duc,

but there are certain obligations.

He asks nothing of me.

I don't have to wear livery. I don't have to perform for him like a monkey on a stick.

He asks nothing of me but friendship.

I see. Well... Well...

Maintenant, I must confess... um...

- Envy? - Cosima is my daughter. Ma fille, Richard.

Her mother and I... Well...

Well, if your friendship with Ludwig II, le roi, is...

Is fast, safe, true.

He is a god. A young god.

Surely that is something... je ne sais quoi... to be cherished.

Cosi... you must understand.

Munich, is not a great and cosmopolitan city like Paris or Berlin.

The people can be scandalised, shocked

by a liaison such as you appear to contemplate.

Surely you understand that if this happens,

it will damage your standing with Ludwig, destroy everything,

the great opportunity you, Wagner, are at last presented with to...

And there is the religious aspect.

- The what? - Yes.

The spirit.

Oh, I have always been concerned with the spirit.

- There is much work to be done. - Yes, there is.

When Bülow is better, he will be of tremendous help.

- Is he unwell? - Yes, his nerves are shattered.

Shattered. He reels from one sickness to another.

I've obtained a position for him at the court.

It will pass, Majesty,

and even if it doesn't, the King your son can hardly come to harm

by consorting with a composer of operas,

some of considerable merit, I am told,

all of them very German.

Is he political?

There was Dresden.

However, the Saxons have now seen fit to permit him to return.

- We are... - Yes?

...not disturbed.

Well, I am.

Born a Saxon. Imprisoned for debt, I hear.

Ran away from his creditors. Stateless.

Swiss passport, probably forged.

Now a Bavarian citizen.

I ask you...

Your nephew, sir, the King, is filled up with romantic intentions.

He sees knights with flags trot down every lane, cross every mountain.

Not, I venture to hazard, a bad thing for a new young king not yet married.

'The more he thinks romantic, the less he will come to harm.

'Youth, I value it. '

'He is not, this Wagner, not too much artistically inclined? '

'No, no, he is a person of quite ordinary tastes.

- 'Except... ' - 'Except? '

'Well, his work, his music.

'Lt is considered sensual, erotic.

'Young people are seduced by it.

'But there is no reason to believe that they are seduced to acts... wayward. '

The King's mind will be filled with thoughts of swan knights,

maidens aswim in the Rhine,

Venus.

Why not? Why not?

The sooner he gets married, the better.

Indeed.

Wagner must not be allowed to influence... unduly.

At the first sign...

Very well.

Sire, might I present to you one of the sins of my youth?

Das Liebesverbot, one of the first by a young man of 23, never properly heard to this day.

First performed, if that is the word,

in Magdeburg in 1836.

The tenor could remember very little of it at the time...

Took refuge in chunks of other... other operas.

Would not have happened at all had my wife not sold her bracelet to pay the copyist.

There. That is the ship you sailed in.

Yes. Yes, it's wonderful.

- But... - What?

- May I suggest... - Of course.

It must be right.

Chased out by Russian Cossacks, we were.

Debts, debts.

From Riga.

On the run. No escape but the boat.

The boat.

And then caught in a storm.

A storm so violent that it dashed against the protecting rocks,

throwing up a great barrier of spray against the leaden sky.

'And then the calm.

'Peace.

'A great... stillness.

'The feeling that we were lost without a resting place, like the Dutchman...

'alone, time standing still.

'The beginning of a quest.

Peace. A great stillness.

- Isolde

- Tristan

- - Geliebter... - - Geliebte...

No... No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no.

If you look after the little notes, the big ones look after themselves.

So try it again.

- - Bist du mein? - - Hab' ich dich wieder?

- - Darf ich dich fassen? - - Kann ich mir trauen?

No, no. "Bist du mein?" Do you realise what it means?

"Art thou mine?" It's a confession of love. Let's have some passion in it.

Try it again.

- - Bist du mein? - - Hab' ich dich wieder?

- - Darf ich dich fassen? - - Kann ich mir trauen?

- - Endlich! Endlich! - - An meiner Brust!

- - Fühl' ich dich wirklich? - - Seh' ich dich selber?

- - Dies deine Augen? - - Dies dein Mund?

- - Hier deine Hand? - - Hier dein Herz?

- Bin ich's? Bist du's? Ist es kein Trug?

- - Ist es kein Traum? - - Ist es kein Traum?

- O Wonne der Seele

- - O, süße... - - No, no.

Just remember the words. Remember what the words mean.

Forget the music for a second. Just look at the words.

You must remember that the words are equally as important as the music.

It is, after all, meant to be poetry. I hope it is.

So let us think the words and the meaning will then be perfectly obvious.

We mustn't just get mellifluous like those funny Italian operas. Let's try again.

- - Bist du mein? - - Hab' ich dich wieder?

- - Darf ich dich fassen? - - Kann ich mir trauen?

- - Endlich, endlich! - - An meiner Brust!

- - Fühl' ich dich wirklich? - - Seh' ich dich selber?

- - Dies deine Augen? - - Dies dein Mund?

- - Hier deine Hand? - - Hier dein Herz?

- Bin ich's? Bist du's? Ist es kein Trug?

- - Ist es kein Traum? - - Ist es kein Traum?

- O Wonne der Seele... -

Maestro.

Does this high C have to be... It's very difficult.

If you can't sing the high C, we will put it lower.

Take it a little faster and a little softer. You don't need the fortissimo. Try it again.

- O Wonne der Seele

- O süße, hehrste, kühnste, schönste, seligste Lust... -

I don't know whether your voices are tired, but you're shouting.

- But it's so high, Maestro. We're forced to. - There's no line.

How can we sing this top C and then these things?

If you cannot sing the top C, we will find somebody who can sing the top C.

- Well, I'll think you'll find it rather difficult. - Let's not lose our tempers! Let's try again.

Shall we?

Right turn and forwards!

- Isolde

- Tristan

- - Geliebte - - Geliebter

Good, good, good, good.

Very good.

- O Wonne der Seele

- O süße, hehrste, kühnste, schönste, seligste Lust

That's it. Now, you see how it works?

It is, your Majesty, as if you were able to see your dreams, I would hope

by placing of a proscenium within a very wide proscenium

directing the gaze of the spectator towards the object, the illusion -

a world focusing and refocusing -

until one is drawn into the illusion.

Wonderful.

Every seat in the theatre is the best seat. Everything can be seen.

- The orchestra? - Under, under.

Unseen in a great bowl under the stage.

An amphitheatre in the Greek fashion.

Semper, can we flood it?

Well, er...

Herr Wagner!

You must help me to protect him.

- Who? - Our king.

- Is he in danger? - He has a great destiny.

It's written in the stars. Now you...

Herr Wagner, you must protect him.

Mm, yes.

- You-you do believe in the stars? - Of course, of course.

Oh, Herr Wagner!

Herr Wagner!

Oh, look here. Somebody ought to do something about that woman. Look here.

- Dangerous. - No, no. Just silly.

Wagner is very dangerous in my opinion.

Oh, no. Just ambitious.

Aren't you?

Aren't we all?

Majesty...

- It is taking so long. - Majesty?

Tristan.

Aren't you longing to hear Tristan?

Oh, longing, Majesty. Longing

There must be more room for the orchestra. How can we find more room?

Are you not used to full-size orchestras in Munich?

- Remove those seats. - Seats?

Yes, the first few rows of seats.

Or do you wish us to go back to the Residenz Theatre?

Surely, surely, Herr Bülow...

Surely?

- We would lose more than 30 seats! - Does that matter?

Does it matter whether we have 30 Munich Schweinehunde in the audience

more or less?

- People are waiting to see you, Richard. - Who?

Two people. They want you to ask the King for mercy for their son

- who's been condemned to death. - Me?

- What is she? - Tell her to go away.

They've tried everyone else.

- The King's life... - It is dearer to me than my own.

- He must be protected! - Is he not protected?

Do you want me to tell them to go away?

- There are more important things. - Are there indeed?

It is your duty to help this wonderful young man

to fulfil his destiny.

You must understand, Frau.

I spoke to his father and his grandfather.

I advised them that they would fall to the machinations of evil men and be destroyed.

They would not listen to me.

I can see it in the stars.

You...

are his destiny!

- Do you want to see these people? - People...

- Ah, Richard... - Richard...

Bülow.

- It goes well? - Yes, thank you.

This is Ferdinand Lasalle, who wishes you to intervene on his behalf

so that he might marry the daughter of Baron...

Well, sir, it is because he's Jewish.

- Our son is condemned to death, sir. - Can we not go elsewhere?

- Franz, get rid of them. - Our son, sir.

I know Herr Lasalle is a friend and involved in the affair of the daughter of Von...

We wish only to keep our son alive.

We love each other, Herr Wagner.

You must understand that - you of all people.

I must tell you this, sir. You are ambitious.

The sort of man who does not scruple to use friends, who does not scruple to...

use anybody and anything for private means.

Without her...

- I shall die. - Perhaps, perhaps.

Herr Wagner!

Our king!

You...

must help him through the morass of evil influence,

false advice

given by politicians interested only in self-advancement

owing allegiance only to Prussia.

You are his hope!

Condemned to death, Herr Wagner.

- Help us to keep our son alive. - Get rid of them! Get rid of them!

- Yes, I said it. - It is not you, not you.

They're beginning to howl, the dogs - consumed with jealousy for me.

The musicians - those that call themselves musicians.

They had nothing worthwhile in Munich until we came.

They will have everything when we leave because we give instead of take.

That is the truth of it. What are we trying to do?

A school so that we might produce singers like Schnorr, who can sing as well as act.

A theatre big enough, what?

Nothing that is not essential - food, wine, clean, soft clothes so I do not erupt in...

- I am sorry. - I suggest that you...

apologise to the people of Munich.

My apology is...

that I have failed you.

But... if you wish me to, I shall apologise to them.

- You must. - Nothing must spoil what we have.

All right, Isolde.

Filth and money. The artwork of the future is filth and money, Wagner! I know it.

Is Bülow still here?

Who gets into his wife's petticoats, eh?

Bülow!

Who is it who worms into your bed, eh?!

Excellent.

Everyone else is a blockhead.

- Wagner is the only intelligent man I know. - Indeed, sire.

There is the question of the bill for 1,000...

Paul, ask Wagner to come and see me.

Majesty.

...Guilders.

What bill?

The bill for the artist commissioned.

I apologise...

and I have written my apology so that it might be published.

When I spoke of Schweinehunde

I was not referring to the cultivated Munich public.

We have always shown a proper appreciation

of the work of this man you are privileged to have in your midst.

- Paying to have in our midst! - Yes, paying!

Why should you not?

I call you Schweinehunde.

You who scheme and plot against Wagner!

You who seek to undermine his friendship with the king!

- Herr Wagner. - Sir?

You wait?

- The King has sent for me, sir. - Not today, thank you.

Your wares are not required today, Herr Wagner.

The King wishes to see me, sir.

His Majesty will not see you.

His Majesty sent his ADC to bring me to him. I was at rehearsal.

That man, that man, is my enemy!

No, no. But, you see, the portrait...

- The King does not like it? - Yes, but in the matter of the bill...

- He doesn't see it as the action of a friend. - I beg your pardon?

To send his Majesty a portrait and then ask his Majesty to pay for it.

He asked me to have it painted. My boy commissioned it.

His Majesty regards this as a gift. He's very displeased.

Even chorus girls who give to the King anything are reimbursed, are they not?

Certainly, so. But you are no chorus girl, Herr Wagner.

- We must remember Lola Montez. - Must we?

She is still fresh in the memory of the people of Bavaria -

that business between her and the King's grandfather.

- Is it a reason why I should be concerned? - Oh, yes, Herr Wagner.

- You are being spoken of in those terms. - How disgusting.

And there are stories being circulated...

about your relationship with the Baronin von Bülow.

- How petty. - How true?

I cannot answer. I am set back on my heels always by scurrility.

I am astounded that such things should be said.

The house is being bombarded - stones at the windows. Why?

Herr Wagner, we love our king. We are jealous of him. He is ours.

You come from nowhere, bring others with you -

foreigners, Protestants, people who are not from Bavaria. It is a very ancient kingdom.

There is a bond between king and people you have been seen to come between.

He, our young king, seems to prefer your company to that of others

for the proper exercise of his duties.

He seems to. Now that is not altogether wrong

provided that you are an influence for the good.

Like the beautiful Princess Sophie.

How well he rides with her.

Oh, do look at them. He delights in her company.

The pleasure they take in each other.

Altogether good, altogether proper.

Tea, Herr Wagner. Tea?

I must go back to the theatre.

How goes the opera?

How goes it? How is it? If I told you, would you understand?!

Perhaps not.

I was simply being polite.

I will now be somewhat less than polite and ask...

While the whole of Munich waits with bated breath for your Tristan And Isolde -

or Siegfried, is it? -

or whatever else in years to come

you will slowly and laboriously

and, I have no doubt, very well do

is it anywhere in your nature to be a little quicker and less extravagant?

Sufficient comfort and food and reasonable wealth

should surely be enough for any artist.

Actors, singers, dancers...

Some of them can be very good on very little.

Horses do wonders with a little kindness.

I am not a horse.

Oh, no, why should you be? But...

There are those who would have me removed.

Me, your friend.

Pfordten jostles... influence.

If you could see your way to influence the King...

After all, you have your house, money, a very snug jointure.

Good heavens, anything you wish.

Would you be so kind as to...

present certain political facts that I shall give you

to his Majesty on my behalf?

Minister, what do you suggest?

As if I were some paid hireling, some little actress

some kept creature in a flat on the Briennerstrasse

waiting on visits and chocolates

legs spread, arse cushioned, whispering your requests to my royal paramour!

- Herr Wagner! - I assure you, sir, I am no Lola Montez.

Lolotte?

There are suggestions, gossip...

Do not listen.

I do not, not to gossip.

Herr Wagner's love of... silk.

That he corrupts the minds of the young with his... music.

That he wraps himself in dress lengths

like a woman.

A revolutionary once,

a pederast now.

Such nonsense.

Herr Wagner loves only himself.

Well?

If he refuses to see me, it will be all over Germany in weeks.

I shall be ruined.

I have said humbly,

"Do I stay? Shall I go?

"Shall I stay?

"Your will is mine. "

'Lf I go...

'it will be to some distant land.

'I will never return to Germany.

'For my works I will do what I can... '

It is for six cases of champagne...

'But I will sever completely the connection between the man...

'and the... Glorious Youth.

- 'No... ' - You will hear more of this, I'm sure.

My master, Herr Wagner...

Your master had his last bill paid by my king.

It is well known.

"So it is for The Friend...

"Friend...

"to decide. One word and joyfully accept my fate. " What?

"My spiritual forces

"are at their utmost tension.

"I must know by which decision, to go or to stay,

"will bring peace to you,

"my dear one. "

What? The boy is an innocent. You will never understand our love.

Bülow looks forward to the birth of his child.

Bülow. Ah, dear Bülow...

There must be no more gossip. Nothing more must reach the King.

Your boy.

How is the child?

Strong.

- You? - Exultant.

I want to... claim that child.

A gentleman here to see you, Herr Wagner.

The name given as... Dr Schauss.

Are they all gathering? Vultures?

Schauss! Shit!

Do you all gather on the carcass?

Herr Wagner, Madam Schwabe simply requests payment

- of the few francs extended to you in Paris. - That grotesque Jewess. I know.

Rather than send a clerk or a distraint, I came myself.

- Now you have come into substantial... - I am a kept man!

But surely the King and all this and your opera about to open...

Madam Schwabe has the greatest admiration for you.

She charges... She charges interest!

That is consequent on your putting your name to stamped paper, Herr Wagner.

This... This has come about simply because you've all heard

I was spurned by the King! Spurned for a paltry few hundred guilders.

Damn you, I'll pay for the portrait myself! Interest!

This bloody Jewess charges interest!

- The theatre alone will bankrupt the state. - If we allow it to be built.

I do not for the life of me see how it can be prevented.

Oh, we can.

We started so well.

Well? Who?

Our young king.

So well.

- Did he though? - Did he not?

I always thought he was a regular chap.

Well, at least he has all his wits.

Not like his brother, Otto, wandering naked around altars.

At least he does have all his wits.

Let us see if he is able to keep them.

- Yes, there is something in that. - Well, there is something in that...