Among the opera's early champions were Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and particularly Wagner, who commented: "Here, thank God, at last for a change is somebody with ideas in his head."
Entre os primeiros defensores da ópera encóntranse Piotr Ilich Tchaikovski, Johannes Brahms, e particularmente Wagner, quen comentou ao respecto: «Aquí, grazas a Deus, ao fin un cambio por parte de alguén con ideas na cabeza».