I am taking part in Theater Dortmund's third Wagner-Cosmos festival, which examines links between Wagner and French culture. The program for the weekend includes Spontini's Fernand Cortez, a work that had a considerable impact on the young Wagner; Ernest Guiraud's final opera Frédégonde, a fruit of musical Wagnérisme; and Die Walküre, the first installment of a new Ring production by the formidable German director Peter Konwitschny. I spoke yesterday on Baudelaire and the origins of French Wagnerism; I also heard fascinating talks by Klaus Pietschmann, Anno Mungen, Arnold Jacobshagen, and Inga Mai Groote.