Author: Seven Years Period

On February 1, 1843, "The Flying Dutchman" premiered at the Dresden Opera House with great success.

Wagner, the great artist, has become famous since then, especially when the Netherlands joined the German Zollverein, and it gained another wave of popularity.

But the Dresden court musician got into some trouble of his own making.

Before the performance of "The Flying Dutchman", Wagner complained to his friend Samuel that he did not receive the treatment he deserved in his hometown of Saxony.

"I have no geographical preference. My hometown, apart from its beautiful hills, forests and valleys, is actually quite exclusive to me.

These Saxons are a cursed bunch - misers, they are slow, stupid, lazy and vulgar, and I really don't want to have anything to do with them if I can.

I miss the sky in Paris, where the air is so sweet, the people are so friendly, and the river is so clear."

In fact, people have long been accustomed to the artist's complaints. But the problem is that the date of publication of this letter happened to be when the Luxembourg crisis broke out, so we have to associate some things together.

As a result, the publication of this letter directly led to the actors of the Dresden Theater going on strike, the audience demanding a refund of their tickets, and all walks of life in Saxony taking to the streets to demand the expulsion of this "traitorous" court musician.

Under the turbulent public sentiment, Queen Maria Anna ordered the expulsion of the musician whom King Augusta II of Saxony admired most.

In fact, this great musician suffered this disaster because of Queen Maria Anna's jealousy. She could accept her husband finding a lover, but she could not accept her husband being obsessed with a man. This was the greatest insult to her feminine charm.

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Due to the agreement with Austria, Saxony's strength at this time and the influence of Queen Maria Anna were much greater than in history, so she was able to intercept Wagner's private letters without restraint.

Of course, in addition to Her Royal Highness the Queen's jealousy, Wagner also had big problems of his own. He was a spendthrift, which made many people dislike him.

Especially Queen Mary, who was frugal by nature, further intensified the conflict between the two parties.

Wagner refused to spend 100 florins to customize a uniform suitable for his status as a court musician, but he could borrow 15,000 florins to buy an extremely luxurious villa, which disgusted many nobles.

(House prices were very low at that time. 15,000 florins was definitely a very outrageous price.)

Since the performance of "The Flying Dutchman" was very successful, Wagner's talent was recognized by the art world, so Berlin and Vienna came to him one after another.

Then this guy first said that Vienna was flashy and authoritarian, and then that Berlin was like a village.

Franz could only lament that this master was so good at talking, and he was helpless. Moreover, Franz was one of those autocratic and exaggerated people, so he could only try his best not to embarrass this musical giant.

In fact, Franz was overly worried. Austria could tolerate even an openly rebellious artist like Chopin, let alone someone like Wagner who simply made a gaffe.

If it were not for the rise of nationalism at this time, there would probably be a group of people who would also boo. However, this situation is not what Franz wants to see at this time. After all, there are too many ethnic groups in Austria, and there will be one or two extremes if not all are preserved.

Some.

Moreover, although Wagner was extremely talented in art, he was really a mess in terms of financial management. Originally, the success of "The Flying Dutchman" would improve his financial situation, and he would go bankrupt in a few years.

However, being expelled from Saxony at this time, he was unable to repay his debts and was in a complete mess. His wife once again escaped from her creditors and fled to Paris like flying.

The legendary "Flying Dutchman" comes from the personal experience of Wagner and his wife Minna who secretly escaped many times to avoid debts and encountered several storms at sea.

Sure enough, art comes from life.

Although Franz believed that Wagner's misfortune was his own fault, he did not want the king of opera to remain unknown.

In fact, there are many people who feel the same as Franz, and the most famous and influential among them is Archduke John. As the late emperor's younger brother and a disciple of Saint Beethoven, it is not surprising that he spoke out.

But Archduke John was soon banned because he was a member of the royal family, but he voluntarily gave up his status as a member of the royal family. Some of Archduke John's inappropriate behaviors may have caused some serious problems, so he could only be silenced.

As the saying goes, a rabbit dies and a fox grieves its kind. At this time, big names in the music industry began to run around shouting that "art is not guilty."

Even Franz received letters one after another from Chopin, Liszt, Robert Schumann, Carl Czerny, Paganini, Berlioz and others. While they expounded their views, they made preparations for Wagner's operas.

On the other hand, he also wanted to ask Franz for help.

Of course, it is impossible for Franz to take the blame himself, let alone to argue that art is innocent.

But this historical mistake was indirectly caused by himself, and he will find a way to remedy it.

Schonbrunn Palace, Royal Gardens.

"Why don't you drink something you invented?" Emperor Ferdinand I rarely came out for fun today, and he was very happy to hear that his brother wanted to treat him to a drink.

Of course, Ferdinand I didn't really drink, he just drank some water, because alcohol would aggravate his stroke.

But the strange thing is that his brother did not drink the legendary Pilsner beer he invented.

"My poor brother, can you still eat what you pooped out?"

Ferdinand I and his chief advisor Slote were both at a loss for words. They wanted to refute but were unable to do so. Ferdinand I simply changed the topic.

"My stupid brother, just tell me if you have anything to do. Don't keep drinking here. If you give me a glass of wine or a glass of water, I will vomit. I won't compete with you next time."

The two brothers had previously made a bet, with Archduke Franz Karl drinking a glass of wine and Emperor Ferdinand I drinking a glass of water. It seemed to both of them that the former would suffer, and the latter accepted the offer at the instigation of his chief advisor.

Field competition.

The result was that Archduke Franz Karl drank two bottles of wine and nothing happened, and Ferdinand I almost vomited after drinking two bottles of water.

Then Slot suggested that His Majesty the Emperor was ill and could not drink too much, and that he should drink on his behalf.

As a result, Archduke Franz Karl drank three more bottles, and Slote also drank three bottles of water and vomited all over the floor.

Of course this bad idea must have come from Franz.

"My poor brother, your nephew wants to see The Flying Dutchman, so please lift the ban."

"My stupid brother, it is taboo to change an order overnight, and you must have signed this ban."

"My poor brother, can't you be more willful when you become emperor?"

"My stupid brother, I am willful or you are willful. These art people say that art is not guilty. Are they not guilty of painting the King of France as a pear? I don't want to be painted as an almond or an apple.

s things."

"My poor brother, I think your head is more like a cucumber. And my son said: 'The mistakes made by artists should not be borne by the artwork.'"

"The Flying Dutchman" premiered in Vienna on April 1, 1843.
Chapter completed!