War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

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 he 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, I would have nothing to do with them if I could.

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 used to artists’ 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 caused the actors of the Dresden Theater to go on strike, the audience demanded refunds of tickets, and all walks of life in Saxony took 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 can accept her husband finding a lover, but she cannot accept her husband being obsessed with a man. This is the greatest insult to her feminine charm.

Due to the agreement with Austria, Saxony's strength at this time and Queen Maria Anna's influence 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 himself also had big problems. He himself 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 the time. 15,000 florins was definitely a very outrageous price.)

Due to the great success of the performance of "The Flying Dutchman", 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. And Franz is the authoritarian and exaggerated one. He can only try his best not to embarrass this music 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 nationalism hadn't been on the rise at this time, there would probably have been a group of people who followed and booed. However, this situation is not what Franz wants to see at this time. After all, there are too many ethnic groups in Austria, and if they are not kept intact, one or two extremes will appear.

Moreover, although Wagner was extremely talented in art, he was 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.

But at this time, he was expelled from Saxony and was unable to repay his debts. He was in a 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 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 voluntarily gave up his status as a member of the royal family. Some of Archduke John's inappropriate behavior could lead to some serious problems, so he had to be silenced.

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

Even Franz received letters from Chopin, Liszt, Robert Schumann, Carl Czerny, Paganini, Berlioz and others. While they were expounding their own views and defending Wagner's operas, they 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.

Schönbrunn 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 alcohol, just 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 and a glass of water, I'm going to vomit. I won't compete with you next time."

The two brothers had previously made a bet that Archduke Franz Karl would drink a glass of wine and Emperor Ferdinand I would drink a glass of water. It seemed that the former suffered the loss, as the latter accepted the competition at the instigation of his chief advisor.

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 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 lift the ban."

"My stupid brother, it's taboo to change orders 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 artist's mistakes should not be borne by the work of art.'"

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