“I fixed my mind upon some theatre of first rank, that would some day produce it, and troubled myself but little as to where and when that theatre would be found.”

—  Richard Wagner

Autobiographical Sketch (1843)
Context: The utter childishness of our provincial public's verdict upon any art-manifestation that may chance to make its first appearance in their own theatre — for they are only accustomed to witness performances of works already judged and accredited by the greater world outside — brought me to the decision, at no price to produce for the first time a largish work at a minor theatre. When, therefore, I felt again the instinctive need of undertaking a major work, I renounced all idea of obtaining a speedy representation of it in my immediate neighbourhood: I fixed my mind upon some theatre of first rank, that would some day produce it, and troubled myself but little as to where and when that theatre would be found.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I fixed my mind upon some theatre of first rank, that would some day produce it, and troubled myself but little as to w…" by Richard Wagner?
Richard Wagner photo
Richard Wagner 39
German composer, conductor 1813–1883

Related quotes

Elaine Paige photo

“I loved it. We would rehearse in this dark theatre, unaware of the sunny day outside, and be immersed in the magic of creating something from our imaginations.”

Elaine Paige (1948) English singer and actress

Regarding The Roar Of The Greasepaint - The Smell Of The Crowd
Rock and pop (2006)

Frank Chin photo

“I am out of theatre. I will not work with any theatre, producer, writer, director, or actor who plays and lives the stereotype. So I write fiction, essays, and articles.”

Frank Chin (1940) American writer

On his leaving the theater world (as quoted in the book Notable Asian Americans http://smithsonianapa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2009/10/chin-frank.pdf)

Benjamin N. Cardozo photo

“I was much troubled in spirit, in my first years upon the bench, to find how trackless was the ocean on which I had embarked. I sought for certainty. I was oppressed and disheartened when I found that the quest for it was futile. I was trying to reach land, the solid land of fixed and settled rules, the paradise of a justice that would declare itself by tokens plainer and more commanding than its pale and glimmering reflections in my own vacillating mind and conscience.”

Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870–1938) United States federal judge

Page 165-166.
Other writings, The Nature of the Judicial Process (1921)

“Some men would take happiness where they found it. Especially when they have absolutely no promise of it anywhere else. [Rydstrom]”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

Jonathan Bailey photo

“Theatre has often saved the day for me and that’s why I’ll forever think I’m a theatre actor more than anything else.”

Jonathan Bailey (1988) British actor

"Jonathan Bailey: Jonathan Bailey: brilliant from top to bottom" in The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jonathan-bailey-interview-brilliant-from-top-to-bottom-z6k8fct79 (20 December 2020)

Albert Finney photo

“My dad was great. He was very droll, very dry. The first time that he came to London when I was in the theatre and my name was in lights for the very first time and we had the same name, and he passed the theatre with me on the way, he was going to see a matinee and me, and my mother and he passed the theatre, and I said, 'Look,' and he looked up at my name in lights, and stood there for five minutes, and I'm going, 'I want to have lunch and get back for the matinee,' and I'm with my mother, and he still stood there and so, I went back to get him and he just said, 'I never thought that I'd see my name in lights.”

Albert Finney (1936–2019) English actor

Interview with Paul Fischer at Dark Horizons (2 December 2003).

C. L. R. James photo

“Cricket is first and foremost a dramatic spectacle. It belongs with theatre, ballet, opera and the dance.”

C. L. R. James book Beyond a Boundary

Beyond a Boundary
Beyond a Boundary (1963)

Clifford D. Simak photo

“As an auxiliary to all of this," he said, "I have found myself speculating upon a world in which no one ever grew up. I admit, of course, that it is a rather acrobatic feat of thinking, not entirely consistent, to leap from the one idea to the other. In a world where one was able to package his experiences, he merely would be able to relive at some future time the experiences of the past. But in a world of the eternally young he'd have no need of such packaging. Each new day would bring the same freshness and the everlasting wonder inherent in the world of children. There would be no realization of death and no fear born of the knowledge of the future. Life would be eternal and there'd be no thought of change. One would exist in an everlasting matrix and while there would be little variation from one day to the next, one would not be aware of this and there'd be no boredom…”

Clifford D. Simak book Cemetery World

Cemetery World (1973)

John Home photo

“In the first days
Of my distracting grief, I found myself
As women wish to be who love their lords.”

John Home Douglas

Act i, scene 1.
Douglas (first performed 1756)

Octavio Solis photo

“I’m not a poet, but I do like heightened language that can exist in the theatre. Many plays are sounding more naturalistic these days, more like TV. I still take my cues from Shakespeare. I would rather have the story exist more in the audience’s heads than on a screen.”

Octavio Solis (1958)

On avoiding the label of magical realism in “Octavio Solis’s Journey to ‘Mother Road’” https://www.americantheatre.org/2019/09/09/octavio-soliss-journey-to-mother-road/ (American Theatre; Sept 2019)

Related topics