Excerpt from Bayreuth (1876-1896) Twenty years had passed before it was found possible to repeat Richard Wagner's "Ring des Nibelungen" in the theatre which had been specially designed for that purpose. The "Teutonic Spirit" upon which Wagner had relied when projecting and carrying out his gigantic work had played him false. It might have been thought that national enthusiasm, fertilized by the hope of a unique production of a commanding genius, would have born fruit, but the necessary financial support which had been expected was not forthcoming, and Wagner, persecuted by malice and scepticism, would have had to renounce the hope of seeing any representations that came up to his ideal, had not King Louis, of immortal memory, nobly come forward to his help. It would be carrying coals to Newcastle to speak here of the importance of the "Nibelungen" representations that at last took place in 1876. Wagner was however forced to abandon the repetition of the performances planned for the following year, because of the want of general interest and sympathy. For six years he kept his intentions to himself and did not reveal them to the world, till the time came to produce a new work, the purest and loftiest he ever wrote, and once more both performers and spectators were united at Bayreuth. The voice of calumny was silenced before the sublime beauty of "Parsifal," and the universal and unreserved enthusiasm with which it was received, as compared with the reception given to his former works, inspired the hope that the festivals rested on a firm basis, and that Wagner could now carry out his plans without further let or hindrance. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.