9 - The Bitter End, 1858–59

Summary

Before Wagner turned his back on Zurich, he urged Liszt to come and visit him. But his friend could not oblige as he had to attend the celebrations for the three hundredth anniversary of the University of Jena. Representative duties of this kind were always important to him, in contrast to Richard, who wrote that “I found it very bitter that I could not have you here during this major catastrophe of my life.” Did he want Liszt to try and convince Mathilde that she should leave Otto, despite her recent, clear refusal? Or had he wanted Liszt to provide some guarantee of financial security, were she to take such a step? Since Princess Carolyne had disregarded all bourgeois norms by leaving her first husband to go and live with Liszt, Richard will have been sure that he could count on their sympathy.

Minna was devastated. She confided in her good friend Sulzer—who had already stood by her during the Laussot affair—and told him of the “disastrous fate” that had now befallen her and that had made her “the unhappiest woman under the sun.” The origin of all this evil was perfectly obvious to her: Mathilde Wesendonck. After Richard decided to give up their Asyl, Minna wrote a farewell letter to her hated rival: “Before my departure I must tell you with a bleeding heart that you have succeeded in separating my husband from me after nearly twenty-two years of marriage. May this noble deed contribute to your peace of mind and your happiness.” She enclosed a copy of the letter from Richard that she had intercepted back in April, presumably hoping that it might provide for a greater understanding of her behavior since then. She continued:

unfortunately, I had to discover only too soon that you abused my confidence and made a very ordinary piece of gossip out of it. You repeatedly incited my husband against me and even accused me unjustly and carelessly before your good husband. On my return after an absence of three months, my husband told me that I had to resume seeing you. After several excessive scenes I gave in, aiming to place a cloak of forgetfulness over what had happened merely to forestall the abominable gossip that was supposed to have arisen and, quite frankly, to secure our Asyl.