Memories of a Musician: Reminiscences of Seventy years of Musical Life

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176-7

text excerpt

Wagner did not allow any of the artists to bow their acknowledgments at the end of each act ; he allowed it only when the opera was finished (I think quite rightly too), and it was but natural that when they did appear the audience applauded them enthusiastically. I also remember that, in the intervals between the acts, the principal male singers sat in their costumes outside the stage door, at the back of the theatre, refreshing themselves with Bayrisches Bier (Bavarian beer) a very curious sight ! The audience also had a chance of refreshing themselves during the intervals, which were very long, lasting one hour. Special restaurants were built in the grounds of the theatre; they were thronged by a hungry and thirsty crowd, and one had great difficulty in being served. Dr. Hans Richter conducted the Trilogy, and he performed a great feat in conducting them without having the score before him, entirely from memory, such a thing having never been done before in the musical world. I have already mentioned that my father conducted the classical operas by heart, but this was child's play compared with Dr. Richter's accomplishment of conducting the difficult and complicated music, vocally and instrumentally, of the Ring, and in those days it was extraordinary that a work so intricate and difficult should be memorised by one man. Dr. Richter, like the members of the orchestra, was in his shirt-sleeves as the heat was so great.

excerpt from 'Memories of a Musician: Reminiscences of Seventy years of Musical Life' pp. 176-7 (242 words)

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