Hitler's Table Talk

MEMORIES OF BAYREUTH FESTIVAL 349
Lotte Bechstein was still up, but her relatives were in bed. Next
morning, Cosima Wagner came and brought me some flowers.
What a bustle there was in Bayreuth for the Festival! There
exist a few photographs of that period, in which I figure, taken
by Lotte Bechstein.
I used to spend the day in leather shorts. In the evening, I
would put on a dinner-jacket or tails to go to the opera. We
made excursions by car into the Fichtelgebirge and into
Franconian mountains. From all points of view, those were
marvellous days. When I went to the cabaret of the Chouette, I
found myself immediately in sympathy with the artistes. I was
not yet celebrated enough for my fame to interfere with my
peacefulness.
Dietrich Eckart, who had been a critic in Bayreuth, had
always told me of the extraordinary atmosphere prevailing
there. He told me that one morning they had broken into the
Chouette, and had gone, in company with the artistes, into the
meadow behind the theatre, to play the Miracle of Good Friday
there.
At the first performance of Parsifal that I attended at Bayreuth,
Cleving was still singing. What a stature, and what a
magnificent voice! I'd already been present at performances of
Parsifal in Munich. That same year, I was also present at the
Ring and the Meistersinger. The fact that the Jew Schorr was
allowed to sing the rôle of Wotan had the effect of a profanation
on me. Why couldn't they have got Rode from Munich? But
there was Braun, an artiste of exceptional quality.
For years I was unable to attend the Festival, and I'd been
very distressed about it. Gosima Wagner also lamented my
absence. She often urged me to come, by letter or by telephone.
But I never passed through Bayreuth without paying her a
visit.
It's Gosima Wagner's merit to have created the link between
Bayreuth and National Socialism. Siegfried was a personal
friend of mine, but he was a political neutral. He couldn't
have been anything else, or the Jews would have ruined him.
Now the spell is broken. Siegfried has regained his independence,
and one again hears works by him. Those dirty
Yids had succeeded in demolishing him ! I heard, in my youth,