The bill of fare was drawn up for a special celebratory dinner to mark the centenary of the 'Muses Society' in 1887. The Muses Society was founded in 1787 at the German Theater, itself built in the mid-18th century, long before the birth of Wagner. It was a meeting place for the influential elite of the German nobility of Livonia and staged productions of classics and the latest European drama.
"We can conjure up an evening scene," says Zaiga Gaile, the architect in charge of the major restoration works. "Here is the menu. Victoria soup, hollandaise sauce, butter, a fine menu with wines opposite. And on the other side of the invitation is the musical program - Mozart's Minuet, Johann Strauss' waltz, Verdi's Aida aria and other works by well-known composers."
In fact the full menu is a mouthwatering affair and reads:
Vegetable soup
Victoria soup
Pies
Turbot with hollandaise sauce and butter
Sole in white wine
Ham in burgundy
Beef with vegetables
Strasbourg goose liver pate
Ice punch
Venison
Pheasant, quail, partridge
Salad, compote
Fresh asparagus
Young peas
'Baumkuchen' cake
Cheese
Ices, wine jelly
Fruit dessert
Coffee
The accompanying wine list is, if anything, even more impressive, and includes an 1866 Schloss Johannisberger Kabinett, an 1874 Clos Vougeot, an 1865 Chateau Lafite, a Chateau d'Yquem, and several different champagnes, plus port, Madeira, benedictine, beer, porter, cognac and more. Quite an evening.
The menu, plus many other finds discovered during the restoration works, will be carefully studied and some of them will be exhibited in a Wagner Museum, which is also planned to be created in the building.
