Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt Volume II Part 28

What this possible "attainment" may be I can only briefly indicate to you. The object of my journey has been the securing of the rights of property in my operas, and beyond this I can look for nothing except what is freely offered to me, and the only person who seems inclined to make a definite offer is the manager of the "Theatre Lyrique." I saw his theatre; it pleased me fairly well, and a new acquisition he had made, a tenor, pleased me very much. In case he is prepared for more than ordinary efforts, as to which of course I must have every security, I might give him "Rienzi," provided that I succeeded (perhaps through intercession of the Grand Duke of Baden with the Emperor of the French) in obtaining the exceptional privilege of having my opera performed at this theatre WITHOUT SPOKEN DIALOGUE.

"Ollivier," whom I did not meet till yesterday, and with whom I am going to dine en garcon today, received me with such amiable kindness that I imagined I had arrived at "Altenburg." He made me an unlimited offer of his services with the manager of the Theatre Lyrique, a personal friend of his, amongst other people.

Well, we must see what will come of it; in any case, I should surrender, without much scruple of conscience, "Rienzi," to gain me an entry, but of course only on the supposition that considerable pecuniary advantages would accrue to me.

I had got so far when Berlioz called on me. After that I had to go out, and found soon that I was not well, the cause probably being a cold, which pulls me down more than usually, because as I remember only now, my food has lately been very bad, I being feeble and very thin in consequence. I had to make my excuses to Ollivier and stop at home in bed. In consequence of this prudent measure I feel a little better, and am expecting Ollivier, who will call for me at two to take me to the concert of the Coservatroire; so I will go on talking to you a little about practical things.

It was a real shame that I was once more compelled to take money from you, but this time it is quite certain to be a loan, which I shall repay to you in any circ.u.mstances. From the letter of the Princess, I see that you have to use all manner of stealth to get "Rienzi" accepted at the Weimar theatre. This grieves me very much, and I am afraid that a serious conflict between myself and the management will be the result. If this should be the case, the repayment of the thousand francs would become more difficult, but by no means impossible, and in any case I count upon returning the money to you by "Easter." As to the employment of what you sent to me, and for which also I thank you cordially, you must please set the mind of the good Princess at rest. I am sorry that this also should trouble her.

Apart from you and Calderon, a glance at the first act of "Tristan," which I have brought with me, has roused me wonderfully. It is a remarkable piece of music. I feel a strong desire to communicate some of it to some one, and I fear I shall be tempted to play some of it to Berlioz one of these days, although my beautiful performance will probably terrify and disgust him. Could I only be with you! That, you know, is the burden of my song.

Something more about business. The Hartels have replied to my offer of "Tristan." It was quite amusing. Whatever I may do, the Philistine will think more or less impossible; to that I am accustomed, and must comfort myself with the success achieved so far by my impossible creations. To sum up, the Hartels accept, in spite of their great doubts, the publication of the work, with a reduction, however, of my demands. Even so they think they are offering a great sacrifice to me, but they say that they are prepared to have the full score engraved at once, and I think that I cannot do better than accept their offer.

I am always loth to write to you about business, and have done so only when I expected you to help me, which unfortunately was the case often enough. This time, however, I want to give you a short synopsis of the state of my Paris expedition. At the beginning of the winter a M. Leopold Amat, Chef or Directeur des Fetes Musicales de Wiesbaden, wrote to me from Paris, and set forth the results of his voluntary exertions for "Tannhauser" (at Wiesbaden with Tichatschek and in the French press). He asked me to authorise him to take the necessary steps for the performance of "Tannhauser" at the Grand Opera. I informed him that my only and indispensable CONDITION would be that an exact translation of the opera, without omission or alteration, should be given. Soon afterwards a M. de Charnal, a young litterateur without reputation, applied to me, asking me for permission to publish a good translation in verse of the poem of "Tannhauser," in one of the first Revues de Paris. That permission I granted him, on condition that the publication in the review should not imply any further copyright. I am now expecting the pianoforte arrangements of my operas, in order to secure my rights, which will be of importance, whether I want my operas to be performed or whether I want to prevent their performance. The management of the Grand Opera has made no move, but M. Carvalho, of the Theatre Lyrique, seems to be lying in wait for me. In case I should do anything with him, I am determined, as I said before, to leave "Rienzi" to his tender mercies, first because that work causes no anxiety to my heart, and may be transmogrified a little for all I care; second, because the subject and the music are certainly less strange to the Paris public than are my other works. What do you think of it? To me the whole thing would be purely an affair d'argent, and as such it would no doubt turn out well.

Here you have plenty of business, but I must add one thing more.

I have lately laid your poor Vienna cousin under contribution. As my manager at Vienna sent me no money, I asked Haslinger, on the strength of your friendship, to enforce my demands, and as he (being prevented by illness, as I afterwards heard) did not reply, I hunted up the address of your cousin (from 1856), and again invoking your sacred name, asked him to prod on Haslinger.

That had the desired effect, and to both I owe it that my manager will probably discharge his debt before long. You see, it is always "Franz Liszt," even if he knows nothing about it.

Here you have a very long letter from me. Next time the good Child shall have one equally long; I am deeply in her debt. The practical Princess also shall have a regular professor's letter from me. For today I send a thousand thanks and greetings to you all from the bottom of my heart. Be a.s.sured of my most faithful veneration.

Long live Altenburg!

Farewell, you dear unique one.

Your

R. W.

HOTEL DU LOUVRE, No. 364.

256.

January 30th, 1858.

You have struck up a regular friendship with Calderon in Paris, dearest Richard; a la bonne heure, he is one of the right sort in whose society one may forget many blackguards and blackguardisms.

Unfortunately I know him only very superficially, and have not yet succeeded in making him part of myself. Grillparzer used to tell me wonderful things about him, and if you remain much longer in this element I shall have to read some of his things after you. Let me know on occasion which are the pieces I ought to begin with. His two chief elements, CATHOLICISM and HONOUR, are both dear to my heart. Do you think something musical might be made of this? I once read the translation by Cardinal Diepenbrock of a wonderful sacred drama, in which heaven, and air, and earth, with all their powers, are set in motion. I forget the t.i.tle at this moment, but shall find out.

Perhaps you may tell me, some day, how to mould and handle this subject-matter for musical purposes.

I shall have to postpone "Rienzi" till May. We shall invite Tichatschek for it. All that IS POSSIBLE will be done, but I am annoyed that the result will again be very small. Fischer of Dresden writes me a very sad letter about the frustration of his hope of producing "Reinzi" there in the course of the winter. He and Tichatschek and many others are cordially devoted to you, and we shall certainly not fail to do our duty as far as in us lies.

"Lohengrin" will be given here very shortly; I have already had a few rehearsals, because Ortrud, the Herald, and the King will be in new hands. I cannot tell you how deeply the work moves me every time. The last time we performed it I felt proud of my century, because it possessed such a man as you show yourself to be in this work. With "Lohengrin," the old opera world comes to a close; the spirit moves upon the face of the waters, and there is light.

As to your chances in Paris I have not much to say. It is true that "Rienzi" is amongst your works the most congenial to the Parisians. But whether they will take you up in earnest, and whether in that case you will be able to count upon the sympathy of the manager, the artists, and the press, appears very questionable to me. Nevertheless you have done well to go to Paris yourself. Go on reading Calderon industriously; it will help you to bear the state of things there, which are in glaring contradiction with your genius and your nature.

Keep me au courant of your Paris adventures, and if I can be of any service to you, I need hardly say that you may freely dispose of

Your faithful

FRANCISCUS.

257. DEAREST FRANZ,

People take care to give me plenty of diversion. From the enclosed letter, which please seal before you forward it to the person in question, you will see that in addition to other troubles I have been robbed. The thief is near you at Jena, where he has had to go for a short time on military duty. You will, I hope, find no difficulty in finding a person attached or semi- attached to the police, who could deal with E. W., late waiter at the hotel here, in the manner indicated by the letter. I think it will be best to frighten the fellow into restoring the money. If we were simply to put him in prison he would deny the charge in order to save himself, and it is always difficult to prove a money robbery in legal form.

Show me your practical wisdom as a police agent. But it must be done very quickly, as the fellow will stay at Jena or Weimar for a little time only. As I start the day after tomorrow, and shall therefore not be in Paris when he comes back, it would be difficult to lay hold of him here. So much for today. I hope I shall find time to write you a rational letter from Paris. A thousand thanks for your faithful love.

Your

R. W.

The money, if recovered, should be sent to Zurich.

258.

If it were given to me, dearest friend, to give you comfort and strength, I should joyfully make any sacrifice. From Dresden nothing much can be expected as yet, but I shall make another attempt soon. At Carlsruhe they are well inclined towards you, and the day before yesterday I had a long conversation about your sad position with the Grand d.u.c.h.ess of Baden, who, like the Grand Duke, seems to take a lively interest in you. Do not neglect your "Tristan." For the first performance I should advise you to choose either Carlsruhe or Prague. Weymar would of course follow at once; for the moment, however, I think it more advisable that another stage should take the initiative, and have spoken in that sense to Thome in Prague. In any case I shall not fail to attend the first performance, and you will oblige me by sending me the score as soon as you have finished it. I intend to lay the work before the Grand Duke, and to ask him earnestly that he may get you from Dresden the permission of conducting the opera here. May G.o.d grant that this step will, at last, lead to a favourable result.

"Rienzi" cannot be given here this season. Frau von Milde is expecting her confinement, and has not been singing these two months, besides which, we are at present unable to fill some other parts properly, and must wait till the end of the year, when several new engagements come into force. I had, as you know, proposed "Rienzi" as gala opera for February 16th; but a light opera was preferred, and, as such, your tribune of the people would scarcely pa.s.s.

You are probably in direct correspondence with Eckert concerning the performance of "Lohengrin" at Vienna. He informed me that the work would be given this autumn. The princ.i.p.al parts will be splendidly cast: Ander (Lohengrin), Meyer (Elsa), and Csillagh (Ortrud), and if Eckert throws his heart into the thing, a great success is beyond all doubt.

Of my performances at Prague, Vienna, and Pesth, you have probably heard from others. Although I have no reason to complain, I am very glad that they are over, and that I may stop at home again; for I must candidly confess that the wear and tear connected with similar occasions is very unpleasant to me, and becomes almost unbearable if it lasts more than a few weeks.

Do not desert "Tristan"; he is to lead you back soon, and VICTORIOUSLY, to Siegfried.

Your

FRANZ

May 7th, 1858.

259.

I send you today a WONDERFUL FELLOW, dearest Richard; receive him kindly.

Tausig is to work your Erard thoroughly, and to play all manner of things to you. Introduce him to our mutual friends at Zurich-- Herwegh, Wille, Semper, Moleschott, Kochly--and take good care of him.

Your

F. LISZT.