CHAPTER XXIII

Sarah Bernhardt in _Phèdre_—Vienna and Buda-Pesth

When I got my winter’s leave, I started for Paris, to see my parents; intending afterwards to visit Vienna and Buda-Pesth. On the last evening of my stay in Paris, I went to the Théâtre-Français, to see Sarah Bernhardt and Mounet Sully in _Phèdre_. The latter’s acting was very fine, but Sarah Bernhardt was simply magnificent. The way in which she recited Racine’s lines in her charming, musical voice, with its pretty timbre, was a real pleasure to listen to; while in the last scene she rose to the supreme heights of tragedy. I do not think I was ever more delighted in my life with a theatrical performance than I was with the splendid acting that night at the Théâtre-Français, as it surpassed all my expectations.

On my journey to Vienna next day, I had as a travelling companion an Austrian gentleman called Herr Neuss, who, on my happening to mention my visit to the Théâtre-Français the previous evening, observed that, in his opinion, the Burg Theatre, in Vienna, was the first theatre in Europe, and invited me to accompany him one evening to see a play of Shakespeare acted there. Herr Neuss told me that, from the way I spoke German, he had at first taken me for a German student, and that he was surprised to learn that I was an officer of the British Army.

On my arrival in Vienna, which was enveloped in a white mantle of snow, I went to the Hôtel Matschakerhof, which had been recommended to me, and which I found very comfortable. I lost no time in calling on Herr Neuss, who presented me to his wife and their three young and pretty daughters, who were quite charming. I was invited to return to supper, and afterwards two of the girls played on two grand pianos which stood in the drawing-room. They both played beautifully, and had evidently been most admirably taught. An evening or two later, I went with Herr Neuss to the Burg Theatre, to witness a performance of _Romeo and Juliet_, which was wonderfully well staged. The part of Juliet was played by Fräulein Frank, a very good-looking brunette, who acted well, though in the very tragic scenes she occasionally showed too much emotion. Another evening I saw Fräulein Frank in the _Jungfrau von Orléans_, a part which suited her infinitely better than that of Juliet; and in which she was truly marvellous. I also saw the celebrated Charlotte Wolter in _Richard III._, in which play Lewinsky took the part of the King. I was very much impressed by the latter’s acting, but I was decidedly disappointed with Charlotte Wolter, whom I considered inferior to Fräulein Frank, though the public thought otherwise. Wolter, indeed, in the opinion of the Viennese, was an ideal actress, and, in certain plays, they even preferred her to Sarah Bernhardt.

I was charmed with the military concerts at Vienna. Of an afternoon I several times went to the Volksgarten, where the people sat at little tables sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes. The military band, the Hoch and Deutschmeister, which played, was a string band, and the solo players were all very good. I was quite delighted with the way the band played a march, so differently from the sleepy fashion in which our English military bands played one. As is always the practice with an Austrian military band, when playing marches, a great deal of use was made of the cymbals in forte parts. They also played waltzes delightfully, and polkas with the proper rhythm, which so seldom happens. The Hoch and Deutschmeister played the most difficult music from the _Nibelungen Ring_, of Wagner, equally well, but their chief success was with light music, in which they were unrivalled.

On Sundays Johann Strauss’s band played in the Musikverein’s Saal, under its accomplished conductor, who always charmed the audience with its beautiful waltzes and inspiriting polkas. Yet everyone said that his band was very inferior to the string bands of the regiments stationed in Vienna. I heard Johann Strauss’s band play more than once, and though I was pleased with it, the military band had far more attraction for me.

I paid a visit one evening to Schwender’s, a dancing-hall, where, to the strains of a military band, people danced till the small hours of the morning, and was struck with the orderly manner in which those present conducted themselves. It was a great contrast to the scenes witnessed at similar resorts in England in those days, where drunkenness amongst both sexes was a common feature.

The Opera House, whose orchestra was quite the finest in Europe, had, of course, a great fascination for me. Wagner was then directing his operas, _Tannhäuser_ and _Lohengrin_, and they were admirably rendered. Fräulein Ehnn and Frau Materna created the chief women’s rôles, and Winkelmann and Ritter were the leading tenors. A great feature at the Opera was the ballet, in which the _première danseuse_, Bertha Linda, delighted everyone with her graceful dancing, while the _corps de ballet_ was excellent. Bertha Linda married the celebrated artist Makart, at that time the greatest painter in Austria.

From Vienna I went to Buda-Pesth, where I stayed at the Hôtel Königin von England. On the evening of my arrival, a gipsy band began playing during dinner, and continued until long past midnight. They played in a really wonderful manner, and collected a great deal of money. I visited the “Nepsinház” and other theatres in Pesth, and one evening went to a dancing-hall, where I saw the Csárdas danced most beautifully, and made the acquaintance of a young girl of fourteen or fifteen, named Tournay Wilma, a pupil at the theatre, who had a lovely contralto voice. She accompanied me back to my hôtel, and sang to me until the small hours of the morning.

I thought Buda-Pesth beautifully situated, with the Emperor’s castle at Buda, and the Danube flowing between the two towns, but I would have infinitely preferred to live in Vienna, which is a far finer city. On my return there, I went several times to the Opera to hear _Manfred_, _Don Juan_ and _Figaro’s Hochzeit_, and then, after calling on Herr Neuss and his family, bade farewell to this most charming of capitals.

I may mention that, during my stay in Vienna, I took lessons on the zither from the celebrated Paschinger, who was quite a brilliant performer on that instrument, besides being a good violinist, and played the violin and occasionally the zither at one of the principal theatres, where he was first violinist. I also invested in a zither-table, which I purchased at Kiendl’s, who made the best zithers in Europe.

While in Vienna and Buda-Pesth, I was much impressed by the appearance of the troops I saw. Among the cavalry, which was then considered the finest in Europe, the Hussars struck me as being remarkably well mounted, while the officers’ uniform was very smart. The Dragoons, whose officers were mostly of the nobility, as were those of the Lancers, were also well mounted; while the Arciren Guards, who corresponded to our Life Guards, were a fine body of men, in green uniforms with red facings. There were at this time, in the Austrian Army, sixteen regiments of Hussars, the same number of Lancer regiments, and twelve regiments of Dragoons. The Hussars were all Hungarians, the Dragoons Austrians, and the Lancers Bohemians and Poles. The infantry was also very fine, and the uniform of the officers, though they wore no gold lace at all, very smart.