Wagner began to write another five-act opera libretto, Rienzi: this one he would set himself. Although the work was interrupted by a Singspiel (light German opera comprising spoken text as well as vocal pieces) begun in 1838 but never completed, the libretto for Rienzi itself was finished by August of that year. Wagner immediately began composing the music for the opera.

But professionally, things were not moving smoothly. Wagner was peculiar in his likes and dislikes, and often poured scorn upon people for little good reason. He was convinced of his own good opinion, and quarrelsome with those who did not agree with him. “With regard to the staff of the theatre, I very soon found out the hollowness, vanity, and the impudent selfishness of this uncultured and undisciplined class of people, for I had now lost my former liking for the Bohemian life that had such an attraction for me at Magdeburg. Before long there were but a few members of our company with whom I had not quarrelled, thanks to one or the other of these drawbacks. But my saddest experience was, that in such disputes, into which in fact I was led simply by my zeal for the artistic success of the performances as a whole, not only did I receive no support from Holtei, the director, but I actually made him my enemy.”⁵

Of the performers at Riga, Wagner had henceforth nothing good to say. None of the singers liked him, and those who had appointed him could not approve of the deteriorating situation: the result was inevitable. Wagner learned in January of 1839 that his appointment as Riga’s music director was not going to be renewed – that, in fact, his old friend Heinrich Dorn was to be appointed in his stead. Wagner considered this treachery of the highest order, and promptly communicated as much to Dorn. He had been living rather wildly – his debts were considerable. He could not possibly pay his creditors, and without a regular income from his appointment as music director, he would be hard pressed indeed.

The Paris debâcle

The solution was obvious: he and Minna sneaked out of Riga in the dead of night, without paying Wagner’s debts. Their destination – Paris, home of the grand French operas Wagner so admired. It was his ambition to make an impression in Paris as he believed his talent deserved – there, he thought, his works and his grand scale operas would be properly appreciated. He had paved the way by sending his libretto Die hohe Braut (translated into French) to the famous operatic poet, Scribe, in Paris. He also sent a letter to Meyerbeer, the great French opera composer. A letter from his sister’s betrothed, Eduard Avenarius (the manager of the Paris branch of the firm Brockenhaus), in which Eduard wrote that he had spoken with Scribe, and that Scribe acknowledged receipt of the libretto (but did not say anything further about this unsolicited work by a completely unknown German composer), was shown to Minna to convince her that Paris did indeed hold promise for Wagner.