Editing Cosima Wagner (section)

== With Wagner ==

=== Munich and Tribschen ===
[[File:Koning ludwig II van beieren.jpg|thumb|upright|Ludwig II of Bavaria, Wagner's financial rescuer and sponsor for many years]]
In 1864 Wagner's financial position was transformed by his new patron, the 18-year-old [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|King Ludwig II of Bavaria]], who paid off the composer's debts and awarded him a generous annual stipend.{{sfn|Hilmes|p=71}} Ludwig also provided Wagner with a lakeside retreat at [[Lake Starnberg]], and a grand house in Munich.<ref name=M55>{{harvnb|Marek|pp=55–60}}</ref> At Wagner's instigation, von Bülow accepted a post as Ludwig's "royal pianist";{{sfn|Hilmes|p=72}} he and Cosima moved to Munich, and took a house conveniently close to Wagner's, ostensibly so that Cosima could work as the composer's secretary.<ref name=M55 /> From 29 June 1864 Cosima spent more than a week alone with Wagner at Lake Starnberg, before von Bülow joined them on 7 July. According to Wagner's housekeeper, Anna Mrazek, "it was easy to tell that something was going on between Frau Cosima and Richard Wagner". Mrazek said that later in the visit von Bülow found his wife in Wagner's bedroom, but nevertheless made no demands for an explanation, either from Wagner or from his wife.{{sfn|Hilmes|pp=73–74}} Nine months after this visit, on 10 April 1865, Cosima gave birth to a daughter, [[Isolde Beidler|Isolde]]. Such was von Bülow's devotion to Wagner that he accepted the child as his own, and registered her as "the legitimate daughter" of Hans and Cosima von Bülow.{{sfn|Hilmes|p=81}}{{refn|group=n|Wagner's biographer Robert W. Gutman suggests that von Bülow may genuinely have believed, or at least hoped, that the child was his, "until the passing of weeks saw the development of the unmistakeable domelike brow, aquiline nose, and protruding jaw".{{sfn|Gutman|p=336}}}} Wagner attended the Catholic baptism on 24 April. On 10 June 1865, at the [[Bavarian State Opera|Munich Hofoper]], von Bülow conducted the premiere of Wagner's ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]''.{{sfn|Osborne|p=131}}

Wagner's role at Ludwig's court became controversial; in particular, Ludwig's habit of referring Wagner's policy ideas to his ministers alarmed the court. When Wagner demanded the sacking both of Ludwig's cabinet secretary and of his prime minister, there was a public outcry, and in December 1865 Ludwig reluctantly told Wagner to leave Bavaria.{{sfn|Hilmes|pp=91–93}} The king did not, however, withdraw his patronage or financial support. After a few months' wandering, in March 1866 Wagner arrived in [[Geneva]], where Cosima joined him. They travelled together to [[Lucerne]] where they found a large lakeside house, the [[Villa Tribschen]]. Wagner made immediate arrangements to rent the house, at the king's expense, and by 15 April was installed in his new home.{{sfn|Marek|p=81}}
[[File:Luzern Haus Tribschen.JPG|thumb|left|The Villa Tribschen, Wagner's home in Switzerland between 1866 and 1872]]
Immediately upon signing the lease, Wagner invited the von Bülows and their children to stay with him.{{sfn|Marek|p=82}} They spent the summer there, returning briefly to Munich before von Bülow left for [[Basel]] while Cosima went back to Tribschen.{{sfn|Hilmes|pp=98–99}} By now von Bülow understood his wife's relationship with Wagner; he wrote to a friend that "since February 1865 I was in absolutely no doubt about the extremely peculiar nature of the situation". Wagner, anxious to avoid associating Cosima in a public scandal, deceived Ludwig into issuing a statement in June 1866 which declared the unbroken sanctity of the von Bülows' marriage, and promised retribution for those daring to suggest otherwise.{{sfn|Hilmes|p=97}} By this time Cosima was pregnant with her second child by Wagner; a daughter, [[Eva Chamberlain|Eva]], was born at Tribschen on 17 February 1867. Through all this, von Bülow retained his devotion to Wagner's music. He had been appointed music director of the Munich Hofoper, and threw himself into the preparations for the premiere of ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. This took place on 21 June 1868 under his baton, and was a great success.{{sfn|Osborne|p=153}} Shortly afterwards, Cosima rejoined Wagner at Tribschen; Wagner explained to the king that she could not bear the insults to which she was continually subjected in Munich, and wished to escape from the world.{{sfn|Marek|p=98}}
[[File:Fritz Luckhardt - Richard y Cosima Wagner (9 de mayo de 1872, Viena).jpg|thumb|upright|Richard and Cosima Wagner, photographed in 1872]]
In October 1868 Cosima asked her husband for a divorce, to which he would not initially agree. To sceptical enquirers he explained her absence from the [[Bülow family|von Bülow family]] home by a supposed visit to her half-sister in Versailles.{{sfn|Hilmes|p=102}}{{sfn|Marek|p=102}} In June 1869, immediately after the birth of her and Wagner's third and final child, [[Siegfried Wagner|Siegfried]], Cosima wrote to von Bülow in what she called a "final attempt at an understanding".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=27}} His reply was conciliatory; he wrote: "You have preferred to consecrate the treasures of your heart and mind to a higher being: far from censuring you for this step, I approve of it".{{sfn|Marek|p=111}} Legal processes extended the marriage until 18 July 1870, when the divorce was finally sanctioned by a Berlin court.{{sfn|Hilmes|p=118}} After the divorce von Bülow distanced himself from both Wagner and Cosima; he never again spoke to Wagner, and 11 years passed before his next meeting with Cosima.<ref name=M113 />

Wagner and Cosima were married at Lucerne, on 25 August 1870, in a Protestant church.<ref name=H119>{{harvnb|Hilmes|p=119}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|Wagner was by baptism a [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]]; at the time of the wedding Cosima was still nominally a Catholic. She did not formally convert to Protestantism until October 1872.{{sfn|Gutman|p=26}}<ref name=H123>{{harvnb|Hilmes|pp=123–124}}</ref>}} Cosima's journal for that day records: "May I be worthy of bearing R's name!"{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=71}} Liszt was not informed in advance of the wedding, and learned of it first through the newspapers.{{sfn|Watson|p=146}} The year ended on a high note for the Wagners: on 25&nbsp;December, the day on which Cosima always celebrated her birthday although she had been born on the 24th, she awoke to the sounds of music. She commemorated the event in her journal: "... music was sounding, and what music! After it had died away, R ... put into my hands the score of his "Symphonic Birthday Greeting. ... R had set up his orchestra on the stairs, and thus consecrated our Tribschen forever!"{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=84}} This was the first performance of the music that became known as the ''[[Siegfried Idyll]]''.<ref name=H119 />

=== Bayreuth ===

==== Building the ''Festspielhaus'' ====

Wagner's deception over his relationship with Cosima had seriously damaged his standing with Ludwig. Matters were worsened by Ludwig's insistence, over Wagner's objections, that the premieres of the two completed ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring]]'' operas, ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' and ''[[Die Walküre]]'', be given at once, in Munich, rather than as part of a complete ''Ring'' cycle on some future date at a venue of Wagner's choosing.{{sfn|Spotts|p=39}} To Wagner's mortification these premieres took place, under [[Franz Wüllner]], on 22 September 1869 and 26 June 1870 respectively.{{sfn|Osborne|pp=182–183}} The need for a theatre of his own, and full artistic control, was now clear to Wagner. On 5 March 1870 Cosima, according to her journal, advised him to "look up the article on Baireuth {{sic}} in the encyclopaedia".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=52}} Wagner knew the town from a short visit he had made there in 1835;{{sfn|Gutman|p=89}} he was attracted to it by its central location and by its quiet non-fashionability.{{sfn|Marek|p=142}} When he and Cosima visited in April 1871 they decided immediately that they would build their theatre there, and that the town would be their future home.<ref name= S40>{{harvnb|Spotts|p=40}}</ref>
[[File:BayreuthFestspielhaus19C.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]], as it appeared in the late 19th century]]
Wagner announced the first Bayreuth Festival for 1873, at which his full ''Ring'' cycle would be performed.<ref name=S40 /> Aware of the honour that such an event would bring to the town, the local council donated a large plot of land—the "Green Hill"—overlooking the town, as a site for the theatre. Since Ludwig had declined to finance the project, the start of building was delayed and the proposed date for the initial festival was deferred. By the spring of 1873 only a third of the required funds had been raised; further pleas to Ludwig were initially ignored, but early in 1874, with the entire project on the verge of collapse, the king relented and provided a loan.{{sfn|Spotts|pp=45–46}} The full building programme included a handsome villa, "Wahnfried", into which Wagner, with Cosima and the children, moved from their temporary accommodation on 18 April 1874.{{sfn|Marek|p=156}} The theatre was completed in 1875, and the festival scheduled for the following year. Commenting on the struggle to finish the building Wagner remarked to Cosima: "Each stone is red with my blood and yours".<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Spotts|p=54}}</ref>

During this period Cosima admitted to Liszt, who had taken [[minor orders]] in the Catholic Church, that she intended to convert to Protestantism. Her motive may have been more the desire to maintain solidarity with Wagner than from religious conviction; Hilmes maintains that at heart, "Cosima remained a pietistic Catholic until her dying day".<ref name=H123 /> On 31 October 1872 Cosima received her first Protestant sacrament alongside Wagner: "a deeply moving occasion ... what a lovely thing religion is! What other power could produce such feelings!"{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=154}}

==== First festival ====
[[File:Richard Wagner at Bayreuth.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Wagner family]] and guests, depicted at the first Bayreuth Festival. Cosima, her arm around Siegfried, is in the left foreground. Wagner is in the rear towards the left; Liszt, centre-right, is at the piano.]]
In March 1876, Cosima and Wagner were in Berlin when they learned that Marie d'Agoult had died in Paris. Unable to attend the funeral, Cosima expressed her feelings in a letter to her daughter Daniela: "There is nothing left for me to do, except to grieve for the woman that brought me into the world".{{sfn|Hilmes|p=133}}

From June onwards, Cosima's journal entries consist almost entirely of comments on the forthcoming festival's rehearsals, sometimes warmly approving, often critical and anxious; for example, she found the costumes "reminiscent throughout of Red Indian chiefs ... all the marks of provincial tastelessness".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|pp=261–265}} From the beginning of August 1876 distinguished guests began to converge on the town; Ludwig, incognito, attended the final dress rehearsals between 6 and 9 August, but then left the town, reappearing in time to attend the final performances of the festival.<ref name=H136 /> Among other royal visitors were [[William I, German Emperor|the German emperor Wilhelm I]], [[Pedro II of Brazil|Dom Pedro II of Brazil]] and an assortment of princes and grand dukes from the European royal families.{{sfn|Marek|pp=166–167}} Many of Europe's leading composers came: [[Anton Bruckner|Bruckner]], [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]],<ref name=M168 /> and Cosima's father, Liszt, who held court at Wahnfried among the notables who gathered there.<ref name=H136>{{harvnb|Hilmes|pp=136–137}}</ref> Also in Bayreuth was Wagner's current mistress, [[Judith Gautier]]. It is unlikely that Cosima knew of the affair at this time, though she may have harboured a degree of suspicion.<ref name=M168 />{{refn|group=n|Cosima's journal indicates that Gautier remained a family friend until Wagner's death. Biographers have pointed to one entry, that for 12 February 1878, that might indicate that Cosima had discovered the secret letters exchanged between Gautier and Wagner, or that Wagner had confessed the affair. Cosima writes: "The grief that I was fearing has not passed me by; it has come upon me from outside."{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=299}}}} Cosima's demeanour as the festival's hostess was described by a young American visitor in fulsome terms: "Mme Wagner is exceedingly gracious and affable ... a magnificent-looking woman, a perfect queen ..."<ref name=M168>{{harvnb|Marek|pp=168–169}}</ref>

The festival began on 13 August and lasted until 30th. It consisted of three full ''Ring'' cycles, all under the baton of [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]].<ref name=H136/>{{sfn|Spotts|pp=61–62}}{{refn|group=n|Richter had endeared himself to Wagner by his refusal to conduct Ludwig's Munich performance of ''Das Rheingold'' in 1869.{{sfn|Hilmes|p=114}} Bülow was never seriously considered as a Bayreuth conductor, and pursued his career elsewhere. In 1880 he became director of the [[Meiningen Court Orchestra]], and subsequently championed the music of [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]]. He died in 1894.<ref name=M113>{{harvnb|Marek|p=113}}</ref> }} At the end, critical reactions ranged between that of the Norwegian composer [[Edvard Grieg]], who thought the entire work "divinely composed", and that of the French newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' who called the music "the dream of a lunatic".{{sfn|Spotts|pp=71–72}} Wagner himself was far from satisfied; in a letter to Ludwig he denounced the singers [[Albert Niemann (tenor)|Albert Niemann]] and [[Franz Betz]] as "theatrical parasites" and complained that Richter had not got a single tempo correct.{{sfn|Spotts|p=70}} Months later, Cosima records, his attitude towards the productions was "Never again, never again!".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=270}}

==== ''Parsifal'' ====

After the conclusion of the festival and the departure of the guests, Wagner and Cosima left with the children for Venice, where they remained until December. The festival had accumulated a large financial deficit; this, and Wagner's deep artistic dissatisfaction, precluded the possibility of any repeat in the near future. Wagner's mood was such that he seriously contemplated giving up the entire Bayreuth project;<ref name=H140>{{harvnb|Hilmes|pp=140–142}}</ref> he was distracted from such thoughts by an invitation to conduct a series of concerts in London. Leaving the children behind, he and Cosima enjoyed a two-month break in England where, among others, Cosima met the novelist [[George Eliot]], the poet [[Robert Browning]], and the painter [[Edward Burne-Jones]] (who made a number of sketches of Cosima from which no finished painting emerged). On 17 May both Wagners were received by [[Queen Victoria]] at [[Windsor Castle]].<ref name=M178>{{harvnb|Marek|pp=178–179}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|The queen described Wagner in her journal as "grown old and stout, [with] a clever, but not pleasing countenance".<ref name=M178 /> Two years later, in conversation with Cosima, Wagner referred to the queen as "a silly old frump for not abdicating, for she thereby condemns the Prince of Wales to an absurd life".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=377}}}}
[[File:Crop-Levi conductor.jpg|thumb|upright|Hermann Levi, who conducted the first performances of ''Parsifal'']]
The English tour raised little money but restored Wagner's spirits. On his return he began work on what would prove to be his final stage work, ''[[Parsifal]]'', a project that would occupy him for most of the next five years.<ref name=H140 /> Cosima's influence was such that Wagner asserted that he would not have written another note, had she not been there. On a practical level, when the festival's creditors began to press for payment, Cosima's personal plea to Ludwig in 1878 persuaded the king to provide a loan to pay off the outstanding debt and open the door to the prospect of a second Bayreuth Festival.{{sfn|Marek|pp=172–173}}{{sfn|Hilmes|p=143}} For Cosima's birthday on 25 December 1878, Wagner hired an orchestra to play the newly composed prelude to ''Parsifal''. The concert also included the ''Siegfried Idyll''; Cosima wrote afterwards: "There stands he who has called forth these wonders, and he loves me. He loves me!".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=340}}

Progress on ''Parsifal'' was hampered by Wagner's recurrent ill-health, but by late 1880 he announced the next festival for 1882, to be devoted entirely to the new work.{{sfn|Hilmes|p=145}} Wagner secured Ludwig's agreement that ''Parsifal'' should be staged exclusively at Bayreuth,{{sfn|Spotts|p=79}} but in return, Ludwig required that his current Munich [[Kapellmeister]], [[Hermann Levi]], should conduct the festival. Wagner objected on the grounds of Levi's Jewish faith; ''Parsifal'', he maintained, was a "Christian" opera.<ref name=M188 /> Both he and Cosima were vehement anti-Semites; Hilmes conjectures that Cosima inherited this in her youth, from her father, from Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, probably from Madame Patersi and, a little later, from Bülow, "an anti-Semite of the first order".{{sfn|Hilmes|p=109}} Thus Cosima's anti-Semitism predates her association with Wagner, although Marek observes that he nurtured it in her, to the extent that derogatory references to Jews occur, on average, on every fourth page of her 5,000-page journal.{{sfn|Marek|pp=104–105}} The musicologist Eric Werner argues that Wagner's anti-Semitism derived in part from his initial revolutionary philosophy; as a disciple of [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon|Proudhon]] he saw Jewry as "the embodiment of possession, of monopoly capitalism".<ref name=Werner>{{cite journal|last=Werner|first=Eric|title=Jews around Richard and Cosima Wagner|journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|volume=71|issue=2|date=Summer 1985|pages=172–199|jstor= 48134|doi=10.1093/mq/lxxi.2.172}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Cosima's had no such basis, and whereas Wagner retained an ability to revise his views on the basis of his experiences, Cosima's anti-Semitism was visceral and remained unchanged.<ref name=H107>{{harvnb|Hilmes|pp=107–108}}</ref> Cosima records Levi's astonishment on being informed of his appointment.{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|p=413}} Ludwig was insistent that, despite Wagner's objections, the appointment would stand.<ref name=M188>{{harvnb|Marek|pp=188–190}}</ref> Levi would subsequently establish himself as the supreme conductor of the work, held by critical opinion to be "beyond praise".{{sfn|Spotts|p=87}}

At the second Bayreuth Festival ''Parsifal'' was performed 16 times; at the last performance on 29 August, Wagner himself conducted the final scene.{{sfn|Spotts|p=83}} Cosima wrote afterwards of how different the orchestra and singers sounded under Wagner. Overall, she and Wagner were entirely satisfied with the outcome of the festival which, unlike its predecessor, had made a handsome profit:<ref name=H149>{{harvnb|Hilmes|p=149}}</ref> "[N]ot once did the spirit of toil and dedication on the part of the artists abate ... I believe one may be satisfied".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|pp=199–200}} One dissident voice was that of [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], once a devoted friend of Wagner's but latterly a harsh critic. Nietzsche considered ''Parsifal'' an abomination for which Cosima was responsible; she had corrupted Wagner.<ref name=H140 />

=== Venice and widowhood ===
[[File:VendraminCalergiWagner.jpg|thumb|Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, Venice, where Wagner died on 13 February 1883]]
At the conclusion of the festival the Wagner family departed for an extended stay in Venice. To accommodate the large party of children, servants and expected guests they took a spacious apartment in the [[Palazzo Vendramin Calergi]], overlooking the [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]].<ref name=H150>{{harvnb|Hilmes|p=150}}</ref> The principal concern during the autumn and winter months was Wagner's declining health; his heart spasms had become so frequent that on 16 November 1882 Cosima recorded: "Today he did {{em|not}} have a spasm!".{{sfn|Skelton (ed.)|pp=492–495}} Cosima's journal entry for 12 February 1883—the last she was to make—records Wagner reading [[Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué|Fouqué's]] novel ''[[Undine (novella)|Undine]]'', and playing the Rhinemaidens' lament from ''Das Rheingold'' on the piano.<ref name=S516 /> However, it has been alleged that an underlying cause of domestic friction may have surfaced concerning [[Carrie Pringle]], an English soprano from the ''Parsifal'' cast who may have been rumoured to be having an affair with Wagner. According to Isolde, recalling the occasion much later, the Pringle suspicions led to a furious row between Cosima and Wagner on the morning of 13 February. There is no evidence of an affair between Wagner and Pringle, nor is Isolde's story of a row supported by any other testimony.<ref name=Carr54>{{harvnb|Carr|pp=48, 54}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Spencer}}</ref> At around noon on that day, Wagner suffered a fatal heart attack, and he died in the middle of the afternoon.<ref name=S516>{{harvnb|Skelton (ed.)|p=516}}</ref>{{sfn|Hilmes|p=151}}

Cosima sat with Wagner's body for more than 24 hours, refusing all refreshment or respite.<ref name=Carr54 />{{refn|group=n|[[Jonathan Carr (writer)|Jonathan Carr]], the Wagner family's biographer, suggests that the accepted accounts of the 24 hours following Wagner's death may have been exaggerated or dramatised. He bases this view on "a rather precise letter given to Liszt a week later by [[Paul von Joukowsky]], the Bayreuth stage designer".<ref name=Carr54 />}} During the embalming process, which occupied the next two days, Cosima sat with the body as often as possible, to the dismay of her children. She also asked her daughters to cut her hair, which was then sewn into a cushion and placed on Wagner's breast.<ref name=H154 /> On 16 February the journey back to Bayreuth began, and on Sunday 18 February the cortège processed to Wahnfried, where, following a brief service, Wagner was buried in the garden. Cosima remained in the house until the ceremonies were over; according to her daughter Daniela she then went to the grave "and for a long time lay down on the coffin until Fidi (Siegfried) went to fetch her".<ref name=H154>{{harvnb|Hilmes|pp=154–156}}</ref> Afterwards she went into seclusion for many months, barely even seeing her children, with whom she communicated mainly through written notes.{{sfn|Marek|p=207}} Among many messages, she received a telegram from Bülow: "Soeur il faut vivre" ("Sister, it is necessary to live").{{sfn|Marek|p=204}}