Final rehearsal, Götterdämmerung. With great difficulty, as they say, and for me amidst sweat and anxiety, the rehearsal ended between 5 and 11:15. The final scene went miserably and will likely be a fiasco unless Brandt pulls out all the stops and some fortunate circumstances intervene. I am deeply concerned that everything beautiful that preceded it will be ruined by the ending. I went home with Wagner, Mrs. Cosima, and the children, unable to speak or give words to my worries.
I forgot to mention a Siegfried rehearsal in which the fight with the dragon (Fafner) was rehearsed. A piece of the front part had arrived again; I couldn’t quite make sense of it, but I can see that “the dainty face” is still missing. The space in which the beast appears and is supposed to interact with Siegfried is far too small! The fight that Wagner has ordered, and which Unger performs so clumsily—no doubt, ridiculous—is not good enough for small children. It would be better if the dragon were left out altogether! And this dragon costs 500 pounds sterling.