Above: detail from the tomb of Marie D'Agoult at Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris
Nelida in an anagram for Daniel, and Daniel Stern was the nom de plume of Marie D'Agoult, the mistress of Franz Liszt and the mother of Cosima Wagner. Nelida is also the title of D'Agoult's 1846 novel, drawing upon her tempestuous relationship with Liszt; ironically, the composer (they were long since estranged) seems to have sent her a congratulatory letter when the novel was published.
Marie D'Agoult was the only one among Liszt's lovers to bear him children: Blandine, Cosima, and Daniel. Liszt met Marie in 1832 or 1833 and they became lovers in 1834, though d’Agoult was not divorced from her husband Comte D'Agoult until 1835. The affair between Marie and Franz was a stormy one; she deplored the composer/pianist's long absences on his performance tours. These absences - and Liszt's philandering - led to a final break in their relationship in 1844. Marie then took up the name Daniel Stern; she became a journalist. She died in 1876. Though a less prolific and skilled writer than George Sand, D'Agoult is sometimes compared with her better-known compatriot; the two women shared the distinction of being the respective lovers of a pair of musical geniuses.
Above: portrait of Marie D'Agoult
Out of curiousity, I took up a copy of Nelida (in an English translation, to be sure) and enjoyed the story, and D'Agoult's romantic style. In the novel, Liszt is transformed into the painter Guermann Régnier whilst Marie appears in the guise of Nelida.
First published in 1846 (under the pen name Daniel Stern), Nelida tells the story of a beautiful young French heiress who was plucked from a convent school - where she had expressed a fervent desire to become a nun - to make a socially advantageous marriage to one Timoleon de Kervaens. Almost at once, Nelida's husband proves himself unworthy of her. And then, re-connecting with a childhood friend who is now a rising painter - Guermann Régnier - Nelida surrenders everything (her marriage, reputation, and an affluent lifestyle) to dedicate herself to Guermann.
Marie d'Agoult, in fictionalizing her ten-year affair with Liszt, may have written the novel as an act of revenge against the pianist-composer whose frequent absence while touring combined with his numerous amorous adventures slowly destroyed their love, despite the successive births of their three children. In the novel, Guermann/Liszt falls into decline and illness without Nelida/Marie; she visits him on his death-bed where he begs her forgiveness for having treated her so indifferently: "From the day I left you, I left - and never found again - my virtue, my rest, my happiness, my genius," he tells her.
The reality for D'Agoult/Liszt was very different, for after leaving Marie, Liszt went on to his greatest achievements. But the fictional resolution of the love affair must have brought needed closure for D'Agoult and she went on to a distinguised career as a woman of letters whose works included a major history of the 1848 revolution in Paris.
In Nelida, Marie D'Agoult reveals the personal story behind her public life as Liszt's lover and the mother of his children. Summoning forth the social mores and artistic and religious atmosphere of the era, the novel reveals a woman seeking to be at once faithful to her genius/beloved while at the same time vindicating herself and claiming her own destiny.