Original subtitles

'Richard must be reconciled with the King.

'Lt must happen for his good

'and for the good of the world.

'How I hope for it soon.

'Tristan And Isolde must enter the lives of everyone.

'Lt will change them.

'Show them how to suffer through love

'how to die in love

'how to live

'in the natural condition of ecstatic pain.

'And it can only reach the stage if Ludwig gives it his full support

'and embraces Wagner again as a friend and genius.

'Our hope is that this summons to the castle at Hohenschwangau

'is not another cruel rejection, not another plot by our enemies here in Munich... '

'Dear Hans, devoted Hans, he works and works.

'Will not be taken from his task as he sees it -

'a simple task

'to show Wagner complete and perfect -

'down to the last dot and quaver for the first time ever - love.

'The King must not fail to respond.

'He must feel it also. '

All goes well.

It will be soon.

And now that we work together again

Majesty

it will be a work...

of real magic.

The changing of hatred into love.

Tristan And Isolde.

Huh?

Does von B�low keep up his strength?

His is a task.

It is, Majesty, and he is indefatigable in his devotion.

- He is my second self. - Wonderful.

That is devotion.

At one rehearsal, he so concentrated his energies they drained from him at its end.

He fainted clean away.

I shall reward it

as I shall reward you all - you most of all.

You, my friend...

Day of rapture!

Tristan!

Pen! Paper! Tristan!

- La, la, la-la-a

- La, la

- La, la-a-a

- La, la

- La, la, la... -

It's a girl.

Oh, Isolde...

A letter from his Majesty.

From the King.

"How I long for this evening.

"Tristan, if only it were here.

"My love for you...

"I need not repeat it, will endure forever. "

There must be another letter.

- Who are you? - We are bailiffs

come on distraint of goods and chattels by authority of the court...

- And monies... - Monies.

- Owing one Frau Schw... - Schwabe.

...for which repeated requests were made.

Do you realise that today is the day of the first performance of Herr Wagner's opera

by command of the King?!

I am by way of being a musician myself and I have every sympathy.

I must say here and now that your music sounds a bit difficult

but maybe was worth the effort.

Our cart is arriving for such items as we feel might fit the bill.

The bill, yeah.

We have taken the liberty of taking out your excellent piano.

Am I allowed to leave?

Where do you go, if one might ask respectfully?

Money.

You require money?

My dear lady we're bailiffs, employed to collect, you see.

Er, the law. Just a law, Madam Hans.

- I shall get the money. - No, no, no.

It's too humiliating.

No, no, no.

You can't.

It's all over. You can't.

Nothing connected with you or your work affords me anything other than satisfaction.

You need money. I shall demand it. It is my duty.

Attar of roses, I believe.

And 10 pounds is remaining.

Which can be arranged.

You are musicians. Here.

This note will ensure tickets for the first performance of Tristan And Isolde.

It would be unthinkable to perform without a master.

Come, now, sir.

Only the perpetrator of this opera is kept under restraint.

The practitioners are still in situ.

Frau Wagner?

Oh.

Then I shall not embarrass you.

No.

You may sign any name you wish in receipt of...

I shall sign my own name, Baronin von B�low.

Wife to the famous person

who's mentioned so much in the pages of the newspapers?

Am I to have the money?

You are.

The King's coffers are seemingly as the wealth of the fields and hedgerows

in respect to Herr Wagner.

He may pluck as he will.

However

it must be accounted

for the eventual reckoning.

Schnorr? Why are you not at the theatre?

- Malvina? - She can't.

A bath.

The steam.

Her voice?!

Completely hoarse.

I'm fit for nothing more in this world!

The performance, postponed.

Just the better.

All that, all that...

I spoke to one brave soul

who attended the private rehearsal at the special request of the King.

It went on and on and on and on

and not a tune in it.

"One felt... it would go on and on and on forever,"

said the poor soul.

Five hours...

of barbaric passion.

- "Something simple. " - I, for my part...

You know. You know...

I doubt it if we could have guaranteed protection for von B�low.

I believe... it must have been postponed, I do believe

for fear of von B�low

being torn to pieces

by the Schweinehund.

I, for my part, am sorry.

The King was so looking forward to it.

- He will be impossible, impossible. - No, no.

No, no...

We can provide protection.

We can...

The principal singer lost her voice.

She'll never sing again, I'm told.

Her voice is ruined by the vile rubbish she was asked to utter.

- That innocent people should suffer! - The whole thing's gone too far.

Well, I, for my part, am nonetheless sorry. The King had to have his opera.

The sooner, the better, surely.

Simply to postpone means that we should have to go through

long, tediously long, agonies of frustration.

He will not settle to anything till he has had his opera.

And a new theatre.

I have gone on the supposition

that given the extremely boring nature

of the opera work undertaken by Herr Wagner

enough will very soon be enough

for a high-spirited man like our dear king.

He will soon be more interested in other things - ladies, soldiers...

leading his army, taking the concern of his ministers.

Then we might point out what all this is costing -

this monumental stone theatre,

this new music school

and then the financing of Herr Wagner for years to come - years to come!

What's more, there is this Ring thing.

'We heard of it even in Dresden.

'The delays, the scandals

'the difficulties of mounting Wagner's latest "simple, practical opera".

'Ln any event, they moved from the old Residenz Theatre as too small

'not just for the orchestra, but for the storm of sound Wagner had created.

'All this for an opera, the score of which had been published for at least five years.

'Only tried once before - in Vienna.

'Disaster, disaster.

'Wagner had at one time thought of writing Tristan and Isolde

'in the form of the Italian opera.

'But he did not.

'He wrote it as a single, writhing thread with not a break from its spell.

'Not at all simple, or practical, not at all.

'I looked forward to it. '

'To fulfil the wish of my royal patron and friend,

'King Ludwig II of Bavaria, I am undertaking my autobiography.

'The contents of these volumes will be written down by my friend,

'who wishes me to tell her the story of my life.

'As the value of this autobiography consists in its unadorned veracity,

'which under the circumstances is its only justification,

'there can be no question of publication until some time after my death.

'I was born at Leipzig on the 22nd of May 1813.

'Same year as Verdi, did you know that? No need to mention him.

'Lt was in a room on the second floor of the Red And White Lion.

'Two days later I was baptised at St Thomas' Church.

'Well, I wasn't in fact, not quite, but it will do.

'My father Friedrich Wagner, and, to tell you the truth, he was not, but we'll say he was,

'died in October of the same year

'from the exertions of police work during the Battle of Leipzig.

'I do not remember it but I must have heard it.

'Did I?

'Our family was not given to outward manifestations of affection,

'yet the fact that I was brought up entirely among feminine surroundings

'must have developed the sensitive side of my nature. '

'Then... well, then it happened, it happened.

'Disgust at the sensuous nature of the music was to come.

'Feeling had no place in the theatre.

'All must be bright and light and as frivolous as possible.

'Poor Ludwig.

'His opera, you know, or so he believed.

'And so it was.

'He drowned himself years later, murdered his doctor and drowned himself,

'seeking... begging... redemption.

'Out of death, life itself,

'just as in his opera. '

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

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

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

- - F�hl' 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 s��e, hehrste, k�hnste, sch�nste, seligste Lust

- - Ohne Gleiche - - �berreiche

- - �berselig! - - Ewig!

- Ungeahnte nie gekannte

- �berschwenglich hoch erhabene

- - Freude jauchzen - - Lust entz�cken

- Himmelh�chste Welt entr�cken

- Mein! Tristan mein!

- Isolde mein!

- - Mein und dein - - Mein und dein... -

'At the first performance, I'm told,

'the poor King became so... excited

'that he left before the end, aboard his train, into the night.

'Quite extraordinary. '

- Mild und leise

- Wie er l�chelt

- Wie das Auge hold er �ffnet

- Seht ihr's, Freunde?

- Seht ihr's nicht?

- Lmmer lichter

- Wie er leuchtet

- Stern umstrahlet

- Hoch sich hebt?

- Seht ihr's nicht?

- Wie das Herz ihm mutig schwillt

- Voll und hehr

- Im Busen ihm quillt

- Wie den Lippen...

Richard.

Schnorr is dead.

- Which Schnorr? - Which?

Oh, God.

Schnorr.

Oh, God.

He was the only tenor, the only singer, the only artist.

The first singer I ever admired, the first singer with a brain.

They said that no tenor could ever sing Tristan.

- They'll say that Tristan killed him... - He could. Schnorr could.

He was triumphant. He was Tristan.

I shall not permit another.

Art is perhaps a crime.

- Well? - Majesty.

A king must be seen by his people.

They are jealous of him, they want him as their own.

- My people loved me. - Indeed they did, sire.

- They also destroyed me. - Indeed they did.

Oh, come, now, sire.

Herr Pfeuffer, as Chief of Police,

what in your opinion is the mood of the people in regard to Herr Wagner?

This meddler. This one-time revolutionary.

Come, now, we might all be called...

Might we?

To be a revolutionary is often the sign of an artist.

His Majesty pardoned all revolutionaries on the occasion of the premiere of Tristan.

Yes...

There are those

who dislike Wagner and his Prussian henchman B�low

because they are foreigners, what's more, Protestants.

Second, there are those who despise the luxury that Wagner lives in.

Of course, the King is using his own money.

I mean, it is not as if there is profit to be made in this... music.

But third, there is the time that the King gives to Herr Wagner.

These are the political, military and academic classes,

who may perhaps agree that art is all right in its way.

Even the King's castles, if you like that sort of thing.

But not today, not in this day and age.

To devote oneself to music and castles in the middle of the 19th century is perhaps...

perhaps... foolish of the King!

The King is not a hermit. He is the leader of society.

He should attend court balls.

There is deep resentment among the people of Bavaria

because of what they see

in this young king's...

...infatuation with this.

Well?

Good morning, Herr Wagner. The King desires to know that you slept well.

- Herr Cabinet Secretary Lutz. - A poem.

- Written by His Majesty. - Ah.

"Still true to thee I stay, imperilled friend,

"By deed revealed... nobility to me.

"Might I but thy protector be and end the evil trail that doth encircle thee. "

Ah, Majesty. Your wonderful poem. I shall attempt a reply.

In verse.

What of the music? Lohengrin?

- I awoke to it. - Yes, yes.

Lutz, get out. Ministers!

I am giving a pageant tonight on the lake.

And this... this, for you.

May the blue of the sapphire be a symbol of our eternal faith.

He is asking for more money, don't you know?

Let me say, I have a great regard for Herr Wagner.

I like his feeling for the fables.

For the past that is Germany. I like his feeling for the folk.

But as a man, Herr Wagner does seem to leave a lot to be desired.

I'm told the man boasts he'll reconstruct the Cabinet.

Boasts of his unshakeable friendship with the King.

Boasts that he, Richard Wagner, has unlimited access to the privy purse.

It's unthinkable, unthinkable.

The effrontery of it.

My God, what's all this going to cost?

We all have our own incomes, are people of not inconsiderable worth, but...

We are not clerks, civil servants, lackeys, but...

- Compared to my emolument... - I must however say...

- Indeed... - After all the years we've served the state.

He earns more than the three of us put together.

It is suggested that I should replace Herr Pfistermeister

as your personal contact with His Majesty.

You have the ear of the King.

Money will be found for you.

Rid yourself of these people, Lutz, Pfistermeister, Pfordten.

Be a monarch, be a prince.

Surround yourself with trusted men. Seize the initiative.

Use the banner I am weaving. Hold it high above the land.

From Munich, go forth to lead a united Germany.

Become Lohengrin.

Your Majesty.

Friend.

My enlightened German prince must be the leader of his people.

We too, the common people, have ancestors.

And their vassalage, the oppressions and indignities they have suffered

are writ reeking in letters of blood.

Their blood!

Our blood banner!

There is something to being German altogether curious, you know.

We can take a song like Among The Meadows And Woods

and set it to music in such a manner that we all dissolve in tears.

And yet when we look about us and see instead of a united Fatherland,

a hotch-potch of 34 kingdoms and principalities, we are unmoved.

Why? Are we little people, mere servants, ruled by and subservient to our betters?

As Christ says,

"If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off!"

Cut it off! Cut it off!

Your Fatherland is called Germany.

Love it above all, and more through action than through words.

Germany must have its place in the sun.

Wagner! Wagner!

Your Majesty, this is quite simply a fearful and decisive moment.

We must arm ourselves against Bismarck. Prussia is at the gates.

War is imminent.

You must decide between the love of your people

and your friendship with this man called Wagner,

this man who is despised by the Bavarian people,

by every section of the community, no matter what their standing.

They despise him for his ingratitude and shamelessness

with which he openly exploits the undeserved favour of your Majesty.

This person called Wagner must be got rid of at once.

His Majesty commands that I hand you this.

His Majesty commands that you leave Munich forthwith.

- His Majesty commands... - May I have time to pack?

His Majesty commands! His Majesty commands!

Bastard, the lot of you, Jews, sodomites!

Hebrews, Hebrew Jews, sodomites! Arseholes! The whole pack of you are filth.

Filth. That's why you have snouts, so you can find the truffles.

- You swine. No-good swine. - Control yourself, man!

I am here in an official capacity! Control yourself, man!

I am here in an official capacity.

Pigs! Swine! Ah, get out!

'Poor Wagner, thrown out now from Munich,

'this time without even Minna to comfort him.

'Minna, Minna, who had always been at his side. '

'Oh.

'Chased by Cossacks again. '

'I remember,

'I remember, chased from Riga,

'the clumsy conveyance upset near a farmyard,

'and you were so severely hurt by the accident. '

'After this, I could have no children, remember? '

No.

'I don't have the facts of it, and of course she always loyally denied it,

'but the truth is, when he was being kept by the King, by Ludwig,

'I'm afraid he, Wagner, kept her very short of money. '

Just not true. It is not!

'And I do regret to say it, he did not even go to her when she died. '

I could not.

I did not.

We are to take a historic trip on the lake of Lucerne.

We will see the place where Switzerland was founded 600 years ago,

that you can be sure, under the Seelisberg.

It is set up to be historic, by subscription...

Do you see the Rigi yet? A mountain, you may see it, yes.

For the moment, look back at the historic community of Lucerne.

Do you see it? Lucerne?

Do you all have tickets?

Do you all know the legends of Switzerland?

Would you like me to tell you the legend of Arnold von Winkelried,

a very famous Swiss soldier who truly did something very brave?

He truly did. Do you know the story?

In 1386, a long time ago,

he threw himself on the long lances of the Austrians.

Do we have any Austrians on the boat?

I am sorry, he died.

But we won.

And there is Triebschen,

where the famous German composer Herr Richard Wagner

is living with his friend the Baronin von B�low... and her children.

Madame Hans

is a daughter of the famous Hungarian composer and virtuoso Franz Liszt.

Hans von B�low is Kapellmeister to the court of Bavaria.

Ludwig II of Bavaria is patron to Herr Wagner,

for whom Herr Wagner wrote all his operas...

which include Tristan And Isolde

which some would consider to be quite shocking.

Was.

I beg your pardon?

Was the Kapellmeister.

Our king sent him packing.

I presume you talk of B�low?

I hear he resigned for ill health.

That's right, packing.

Herr Wagner is the greatest living artist that Germany,

indeed the world, possesses.

That's right he is and he's very loud, so loud he cannot be heard.

His music, it blows your head off so no one can hear it.

And he wears clothes that women wear, for which, and other things,

Ludwig sent Herr Loud And Silky Wagner packing too.

With all his friends, packing, all of them. Let the Swiss have them.

Your Majesty, Frau von B�low.

I cannot believe that we have not met.

Your gracious Majesty, in our hearts we have.

Your husband can stay with me.

I need him with me so that I shall never lose sight of our work.

Frau von B�low is very helpful to me, is unselfish.

She has left her husband for a few days,

has brought her children here to live with me in exile.

Is my muse, my secretary, in which role she excels.

She does, she does. Of that I'm sure.

Now, Meistersinger.

How near, how near, wonderful.

I've all the time in the world.

I have come to live with you, work with you.

Regard me as your copyist. Set me to, Master, set me to.

It is very near.

Would you like to hear?

Newspapers. Newspapers.

This.

Sit down, my dear fellow, sit down.

An official denial has been given to that lie. Unfortunately, it is the truth.

I have an official report here confirming that the King left Schlossberg

with Prince Paul early on the morning of the 22nd.

Yes, and was seen boarding a train. Incognito.

- Incognito! - A beard.

He was in Lucerne by the morning with Herr Wagner.

- Will he come back, do you think? - Parliament cannot open without him.

The question of the mobilisation of our army

against the Prussian threat cannot be debated.

How can His Majesty be so headstrong?

He is expected to place himself at the head of his troops.

- Under an umbrella? - Is it raining?

- Will he come back? - We will know if he does.

- What? - Come back.

I shall be the first to know.

I have men on every road, every station.

- Do they know what he looks like? - Oh, yes.

We'll know.

Excellent.

Dear one.

If it is your wish and will...

I gladly renounce my throne...

its empty splendour.

I shall come to you, be with you... forever.

No, you must bear all.

All.

For the good of your people.

Well...

so much for Meistersinger.

How goes the great enterprise?

How goes my Ring, our greatest adventure?

Well, well.

When?

When?

Would Your Majesty hear some?

Please.

How long does His Majesty intend to stay?

Forever.

No, no. We must get him back.

Prince Paul explains that the King has fled Munich.

They are waiting for his command to mobilise the army.

Prussia will attack before we can get our army in the field.

He talks of living here.

Exalted one!

If His Majesty did come to live with us, how would he live?

Live?

Money?

Money.

Some lands but not a great deal.

- Enough? - For the needs of His Majesty, yes.

But for his plans in regard to Herr Wagner, certainly not enough.

Then he cannot abdicate.

- For the sake of Bavaria he must not. - Quite.

- If he abdicates, who will reign? - Who?

His brother, Prince Otto, I imagine.

Otto?

Didn't he throw himself on some altar,

raving, stark-bollock-dangling-naked, and raving?

Bavarians are true Germans.

The people of Bavaria unite the versatility of Franconia

with the imagination of Swabia and the native strength of Bavaria.

I see in Bavaria under your enlightened rule...

...a release of the ideal of the German spirit.

I love no woman...

...no parents,

no brother, no people...

no one fervently and from the depths of my heart...

as I love you.

I will never return to Munich.

How can I govern if we are forced to remain apart?

You...

our work...

give me everything.

Majesty, if you...

Friend, the friend,

if you will not listen to the argument that you are the leader of your people,

their only hope in the face of the chaos of democracy,

as well as the ignorant might of Prussia

and the thick-skulled persuasion of Bismarck,

if you will not, then let me try to persuade you with the argument that without you,

there would have been no Tristan, there will be no Meistersinger, no Siegfried,

no Ring of the Nibelungen, Parsifal.

All the work that I do, have done, with you, will do.

Is all this to be wasted?

Lead your people, be a king.

Dismiss the twittering Nibelungs, Pfistermeister, Pfordten, Pfee, Pfi...

Only a king can realise our plans

on the magnificent scale we envisage. A German king.

Yes.

I?

I...

Yes, only I.

Paul.

Fetch me my helmet and my sword.

I thank God.

- How dare you? - Herr von B�low, is it not the truth?

- It certainly is not. - So sure?

What was said about my wife is more to the point.

It's a scandalous attack on my name and honour.

- Yes, yes, your wife. - It says that Wagner is in Lucerne.

Does it?

That your wife, the carrier pigeon, Baronin von B�low,

daughter to Liszt, is with Wagner,

where they were recently visited by a certain exalted person.

Here it says,

"The musician Wagner, her friend or what?"

- Or what? - An apology sir. An apology.

Do you wish me to say what everyone knows?

That she got away with 40,000 gulden for her... friend?

- My seconds will call on you, sir. - Herr von B�low!

You are a Prussian, are you not?

Then I would advise you to leave the country rather than fight duels.

What do you suggest, glissandos at 30 paces?

No, Herr Wandwaver.

There will soon be enough fighting going on bloodily between Bavarians and Prussians

on the field of glory, sir, the field of glory.

If you will not believe me with regard to the honour of my wife,

perhaps you will believe your king.

Ready to go again soon, sir.

- God bless Your Majesty. - We'll be ready to go again soon, sir.

Well done, sir. Well done.

God bless you, sir.

I'm ready. I'm ready, sir.

God bless Your Majesty.

Ah! Hans!

Oh...

Ah, yes. I am very impressed with Bismarck.

The poor King. Do you think, because of the war, he will abdicate, do you think?

- Oh, this is shocking. - Hm.

Is Bismarck the man to lead Germany to greatness?

Oh, this is shocking.

I called on the editor and demanded an apology.

Thank you.

Something must be done.

Yes, the King, my friend, must be asked to write you a letter, B�low,

in which he states you are vitally important to the artistic... life of Munich,

he is shocked by the scurrilous treatment

accorded to you and your blameless wife in the newspapers.

How will that do? Which letter being received, you may publish it for all to see.

The King's letter giving the lie to all this... this filth and innuendo.

Some of Meistersinger.

- Will the King do such a thing? - If I ask him to, yes.

Look at this.

But it is not lies.

I need the King and I need B�low.

Listen to him, he has only seen that piece for the last hour or so

and already he has it on the piano.

- It could be a difficult letter to write. - No, no.

- Is it the honourable thing to do? - It is necessary.

B�low works himself to death for me.

He should not have to face such ridicule.

Is it not dishonest? The truth is I am your mistress.

I have given birth to your children. I am. I am.

- Everybody knows this. - The King does not.

No.

Nothing matters but you, that which is in you. You are the cause we serve, all of us.

Thank you. You're right.

There are those of us, artists and strong men in other ways,

who must for our own ease, so that we may do that which we have to do

with conviction and strength, must be unwaveringly supported, never questioned,

set above all other persons, given everything.

All is clear if one understands that.

There is nothing dishonest or dishonourable about it.

What shall you write?

I will...

I'll think about it.

Ah, Bismarck, what?

Poor Ludwig, soundly trounced by the Prussians.

I always said it would come through Prussia.

If the Prussian king had accepted the crown of emperor

and leadership of Germany as a whole,

we would not have needed to fight him in Dresden.

What, B�low?

B�low.

You are not looking well.

You look exhausted.

Is Meistersinger going to be too much for you?

Is there somebody who can help you?

I'll get somebody.

I've written it.

Ah, what have you said?

You may wish to read it and you may wish to add to it.

No, no, no. Read it to us.

"Royal lord, I have children,

"and it is my duty to hand down to them their father's honourable name unstained. "

Yes.

"For the sake of these children,

"that they may never cast aspersions on my love,

"which love you share for our friend... "

Let me read it.

B�low, free me.

You are free.

Divorce.

As soon as the King knows,

as he must know one day, promise me my freedom.

No.

Our religion. And your father.

Hans.

For Wagner.

You love him as I do.

He wants a son.

You must help him to have a son he can own as his.

My father, I will go to Rome, talk to him, I will renounce my religion.

You must not, I beg of you.

Consider it deeply.

Please.

The friendship of Wagner and Liszt is a great one, which must last.

See here what I have appended?

"She is the faithful wife to Hans von B�low, the father of her children. "

"'My royal Lord, my friends.

"'For the first and last time, I implore you to act for us.

"'I fall on my knees before my king, and in humility and distress,

"'beg for the letter to my husband that we may not leave in shame and ignominy

"'the country in which we have desired,

"'perhaps, dare I say, done nothing but good. "'

Summoned?

- Why? - I fear I shall be dismissed.

- We are to be blamed? - We advised the war against Prussia.

- Did you? - Did you not?

Look at Lutz, our war minister.

Leapt from his horse, banged his head against a door.

"'My dear exalted friend.

"'Lf you make this public statement, then all is well.

"'You who came into our lives like a divine apparition.

"'Oh, do not consent that we, the innocent, shall be hunted out.

"'Your royal word alone can restore our honour which has been attacked".

'Good. Very good. Very, very good. That should do it. '

Erm... Have you read that disgraceful letter

that Wagner's published... from the king?

The king is really an innocent. I'm just beginning to realise it.

He enquired of me, "What is done when rape is done?" t'other day.

Innocent.

My dear B�low.

The sound of cowbells. Ha!

Cowbells...

My dear B�low.

Cowbells. Cowbells?

Your Majesty. If you allow...

What do you say now I have stilled the malicious lies

about Wagner and Baronin von B�low?

What do you say after this triumph?

What do you say to the return of Wagner to Munich?

Why not? Why not?

I consider Richard Wagner the most evil man under the sun.

A man who would ruin your young majesty in body and soul.

And turn your subjects so strongly against you that you'd be unable to rule.

I'm told Schopenhauer has a great influence over Herr Wagner.

I'm not surprised.

I'm told Schopenhauer denies the state any moral function, any function at all,

except that of the protection of the lives and property of such as Herr Wagner.

With which to serve your majesty until death.

I'll only do so if I am committed to make the moral judgement that Wagner

is not seen to enjoy your majesty's love,

on pain of your majesty losing your throne.

How, Frau von B�low, do you imagine I'll do without Herr von B�low in Munich?

Please do not shout at me.

- You are jealous of my love for him. - If you loved him, you'd see he is tired.

- He needs rest. - From me?

He's been at your side all these years. If you saw him, you'd think he had a year to live.

- He is longing for The Ring. He longs for it. - He must leave Munich if he wishes to.

You must persuade him to stay on as Kapellmeister, to do my work in Munich.

I shall not see him again until he divorces me.

I don't care about divorce. It is nothing to do with divorce. It is to do with work.

Don't you understand the importance of that?

How can you say that to me?

Eva, Eva, Eva.

- What am I to do without him? - Have you thought to using Hans Richter?

Yes. We'll send for him. Yes.

Thank you, Herr Wagner. You may now move.

- Ow! - Come on. Let's go find Bonnie.

Oh.

Oh, no. See if it's the fellow I knew in Leipzig.

Herr Nietzsche?

Herr Nietzsche?

- Have you done it? - I did, indeed.

Miss Morgan?

Herr Nietzsche.

Ask Herr Nietzsche to stay for supper.

I... I cannot bring myself to consume meat.

- Then you deny yourself strength. - How?

- You're a carnivore. You need meat. - No. I tell you the truth.

I've sworn an oath that I will only eat vegetables.

- Rabbit. - No. It's important on moral grounds.

Arrogant rabbit. Cosi, have you ever met an arrogant rabbit? Here he is.

Have you met a professor of philology who is an arrogant rabbit?

Frau von B�low may not have, but I have, many of them.

You need good nourishment in this climate. Good red meat.

We are here, you and I, to provide a means of escape from the futility of life.

You, er... You regard life as futile?

Of course. You know that.

Schopenhauer.

Eat not other people, nor mutilate them, for that is the great wrong.

It denies them their individuality.

Therefore eat animals

and produce a temporary respite from the slavery of the will,

for which you will need your strength.

- I do, but I cannot do it on milk. - Hmm...

Siegfried could not forge his sword on milk.

Mmm... No.

And Richter here could not work as he does without the food we give him.

I'm feeding him up to stamp on the heads of the Nibelungs.

Go forth, Hans Richter, into Munich,

and slay the Schweinehunde with Rheingold.

He likes pigmeat as well. Don't you, Richter?

After Tristan And Isolde in Leipzig...

The overture, remember? I heard it for the first time.

I wanted not food nor drink.

Ah...

The experience. Yes, Schopenhauer.

But the physical strength we acquire when we train our bodies

helps to harden ourselves against anything else they might fling at us.

What does he say against unhappiness?

Danger?

Loss?

Injustice?

Let me read you from my student days at Leipzig. I write my life.

Frau von B�low is dictated to whenever Rheingold and Siegfried leave me time.

A few pages of it might amuse you.

Would you care to hear?

"I managed to find time in those days to finish a substantial lot of compositions. "

Richter, this will amuse you. "How I went about it.

"Coloured inks to bring out the mystic meaning in the orchestra.

"Black for brass, red for the strings, green for the wind.

"But I was not able to get red or green ink. "

The maiden theme of the overture was contained in four bars.

After every four, I added a fifth which had nothing to do with the melody

which I expected to be announced by a bang on the kettle drum.

You see?

See? The fatal kettle-drum beat, brutally hammered out, deprived one of my senses.

Then the audience began to count one, two, three, bang!

One, two, three, bang! One, two, three, bang!

Bang! One, two, three, bang! One, two, three, bang!

One, two, three, bang!

- Herr Wagner, Herr Wagner. - Bang.

You have a son.

Siegfried.

Victory. In peace.

Well, you.

'This child, held high,

'shown the world.

'Shown to the world.

'This child Siegfried at last born.

'For Germany.

'A German sword.

'A leader of stout, German, Aryan stock.

'A sword in his eyes.

'He will be the beginning of a new age,

'will carry the flame and the sword

'and the lights, through struggle.

'Nothing without struggle.

'Attack and defence.

'Suffering and struggle, victory and defeat.

'Domination and servitude,

'all sealed with blood,

'will lead us on the quest that is Wagner's quest

'to help us all cross the sacred river,

'will show us that it is our quest as well.

'The quest for the grail.

'And for truth.

'What truth?

'What truth? '

'What truth?

'What... truth? '