other contemporaries, he wrote: "An unsuspected new world had risen for me, in fact." Soon thereafter, in Darmstadt, Wendelin Weißheimer listened to the Lohengrin opera, and in Frankfurt to the Flying Dutchman, putting him into a Wagnerian delirium. In his final year in school Wendelin was introduced to music theory by theater conductor Louis Schindelmeisser. This so captivated him that he soon began to compose. Schindelmeisser was the first to recognize Wendelin's musical talent. He had to persuade Wendellin's father to allow him to pursue his musical intentions. To this end, Schindelmeisser went to the Stone Mill in Osthofen on 16 March 1856. The father's initial astonishment gave way to his approval. On his departure, Schindelmeisser gave young Weißheimer a picture dedicated to him as well as one of many original letters written by Richard Wagner. Music studies Wendelin Weißheimer attended the Leipzig Conservatory from May 1856. Both Leipzig and Weimar had a lively musical scene. While Leipzig was conservative and spurned the new music of Liszt and Wagner, the revolutionary youth in Weimar sought new forms of musical expression and embraced the so-called New German School and its genius, Franz Liszt. After completing his studies Wendelin took the post of second conductor at the city theatre in Mainz under Schindelmeisser. Before beginning, he traveled to Zurich to visit Richard Wagner, who was living there in exile. Wagner was working on his musical drama Tristan and Isolde and usually declined to see visitors. Wendelin was first rejected, but eventually spent one memorable afternoon with the master on 17 July 1858. Weißheimer writes of his encounter: "The pale expressive face of the then forty-five-year-old, accompanied me in town and everywhere else." Musical career Conducting in Mainz Just 20 years old, Weißheimer took up his post as conductor in Mainz on 17 August 1858 and, among other things, visited publisher Franz Schott and his musical wife Betty. After a performance of Wagner's Faust overture, Weißheimer got to know his Rhine-Hessian compatriot, the poet-composer Peter Cornelius, who became a lifelong friend. With Franz Liszt in Weimar Weißheimer moved back to Weimar after the theatre season. He and Liszt were musically like-minded and so Weißheimer was accepted by Liszt as a student in composition. Lessons were held three to four times a week, for several hours at a time. Weißheimer soon became Liszt's favorite student. Here, in Altenburg, Weimar, home of Liszt's close friend