he had written, entitled, “Das Liebesverbot,” or “The Novice of Palermo,” and which therefore was given only once.  Many years later an attempt was made to revive this juvenile work at Munich, but the project was abandoned because, as the famous Wagnerian tenor, Heinrich Vogl, informed the writer of this article, “Its arias and other numbers were such ludicrous and undisguised imitations of Donizetti and other popular composers of that time that we all burst out laughing, and kept up the merriment throughout the rehearsal.”  This is of interest because it shows that Wagner, like that other great reformer, Gluck, began his career by writing fashionable operas in the Italian style.  A still earlier opera of his, “The Fairies,”—­the first one he completed,—­was not produced till 1888, fifty-five years after it had been written, and five years after Wagner’s death.  This has been performed a number of times in Munich, but it is so weak and uninteresting in itself that it required a splendid stage setting, and the “historic” curiosity of Wagner’s admirers to make it palatable.  It is significant that already in these early works, Wagner wrote his own librettos,—­a policy which he pursued to the end.

Koenigsberg was the next city where the opera company with which he was connected, failed.  This was the more embarrassing to him, as he had in the meantime been so unwise as to marry a pretty actress, Minna Planer, who was destined, for a quarter of a century, to faithfully share his experiences,—­chiefly disappointments.  The pittance he got as conductor of these small German opera companies did not pay his expenses, all the less as he was fond of luxurious living, and, like most artists, the world over, foolishly squandered his money when he happened to have any.

At Riga, where Wagner next attempted to establish himself, the opera company again got into trouble, and his financial straits became such that, relying on his future ability to meet his obligations, he resolved to leave that part of the world altogether and seek his fortune in Paris.  He knew that the Prussian Meyerbeer had won fame and fortune there,—­why should not he have the same good luck?  He had unbounded confidence in his own ability, and what increased his hopes of a Parisian success, was that he had already completed two acts of a grand historic opera, “Rienzi,” based on Bulwer’s novel, and written in the sensational and spectacular style of Meyerbeer.  He supposed that all he had to do was to go to Paris, finish this opera, get it accepted through the influence of his countryman and colleague, Meyerbeer, and—­wake up some morning famous and wealthy.  He was not the first man who built castles in Spain.