At this time he appears to have been happy with Minna; the good lady had all she wanted; and the rift within the lute did not show until Wagner later on began to kick against the pricks.  Perhaps the greatest pleasure that he had at this time—­perhaps the greatest he had had in his life—­came through old Spohr the violinist, then conductor (and king) of the Cassel opera.  Spohr had heard Rienzi at Dresden, and, antiquated stick though he was—­as any one might guess who knows his Last Judgment or Calvary—­he yet recognized in Wagner an original and deeply sincere musician.  He wrote, after seeing the Flying Dutchman, “I believe I know my mind sufficiently to say that among the dramatic composers of our day I consider Wagner the most gifted.”  He produced the Dutchman at Cassel, directing the representation himself, and sent Wagner a letter which lifted that young man into the seventh heaven of delight.  Wagner always cherished the recollection of this, the first genuine praise he had received from an older musician, and one famous throughout Europe; and on Spohr’s death, long afterwards, he wrote one of the most beautiful obituary articles in all literature.  His answer to Spohr shows that at this time there were no serious differences in the household; he speaks in terms of the greatest affection of his wife, and regrets that she is not there to share his joy.  The Cassel performance took place June 5, 1843.  It was unsolicited:  Spohr himself had asked for the score; and this had a double or triple value to Wagner.  Spohr’s authority was immense throughout Germany; and the mere fact that he had asked for the Dutchman, and, later, performed it, was a recommendation to every other opera-house.  And, as a matter of fact, it was done elsewhere, though in many towns the thing was found incomprehensible, and the score returned to Wagner unused, sometimes the parcel containing it unopened.  By the way, Berlioz was in Dresden at the time, doing mountebank tricks with the orchestra, and after hearing, the Dutchman he went so far as to speak well of it.  Liszt was enthusiastic over Rienzi.

When Spohr’s letter arrived Minna was at Teplitz, ill; Wagner joined her there immediately his holiday began, but not before writing to Lehrs (July 7) that the book of Tannhaeuser was finished.  Whether Lehrs received the letter I do not know, for he died on July 13.  It will be remembered that it was Lehrs who gave Wagner the Saengerkrieg from which he drew both Tannhaeuser and Lohengrin.  Before dealing with these operas, Wagner’s first very great ones, we must pass in review the remainder of the Dresden days, ending with the insurrection of May 1849 and the flight to Switzerland.

II