desirable news, but certain things cannot be changed or broken
through all at once. From Austria you cannot expect much for the
recovery of your personal liberty. It would be half a miracle if
anything of the kind should happen. Even the performance of your
operas at Vienna is an example of exceptional toleration,
considering the customs of the country. To demand more would
appear to me illusory. Your POLITICAL expectations in Austria are
as small as are your ARTISTIC expectations in Paris and Italy.
Performances of your works in the French or Italian language must
for the present be looked upon as pia desideria, or else as
newspaper canards.
I am sometimes surprised (forgive my candour) that you fail to
perceive that if a performance of "Tannhduser" were given at
Paris or Milan, it would take place in very unfavourable
circumstances. (I do not speak of London, where a good GERMAN
opera troupe might have a chance.) For several years to come the
only true soil for your works is Germany; that soil they will
occupy more and more firmly, and in advance of all other
productions. Do not allow yourself to be led away by vague
talking, and preserve your justifiable pride.................
.................................
I start to-night with the Princess and her daughter for the
Tyrolese mountains. Address your next letter, "Hotel de Baviere",
Munich, whence it will be forwarded to me. I cannot say, for the
present, where we shall make a longer stay. About September 20th
we shall once more pass through Munich, and shall be back here on
October 1st at the latest.
When you can spare a quiet hour, let me know why you did not care
to stay a few days longer at Zurich, where I intended to visit
you on the 20th inst. at the latest. Several business matters
(mostly in connection with the Grand Duke), and the University
celebration at Jena, on August 15th (where I had undertaken to
conduct some of my compositions), made it impossible for me to
leave here sooner.
However that may be, I remain invariably your faithful and loving
F. LISZT.
WEYMAR, August 26th, 1858.
268.
VENICE, September 12th, 1858.
DEAR FRANZ,
I have just received your letter, dated 26th ult., which had lain
at Geneva all that time. I see from it that you are very near me,
and I hope I need only tell you that I am here in order to be
able to expect your visit. Descend the Tyrolese mountains on this
side, and you are with me. I should like much to reply by word of
mouth to all you tell me, including your most curious ideas as to
my designs on Italy.
Let me see you soon. A thousand greetings from
Your
R. W.
CANAL GRANDE, PALAZZO GIUSTINIANI,
CAMPIELLO SQUILLINI, No. 3228, VENICE.
269.
VENICE, September 27th, 1858.
PALAZZO GIUSTINIANI,
CAMPIELLO SQUILLINI, 3228.
DEAREST FRANZ,
Your letter of 23rd ult. was forwarded to me from Geneva very
late, and I saw from it that you were near me,--"in the Tyrolese
mountains," you said,--and this raised the hope in me that I
should see you and speak to you soon. I must doubt, however,
whether my letter to that effect, addressed to you "Hotel de
Baviere", Munich, reached you in time, because I have neither
seen nor heard anything of you. I feel that my desire of personal
communication with you will not be realised, and I therefore
write to you as to certain points, in connection with which I owe
you an explanation.
Altogether this cannot amount to much; you had to attend to
University celebrations, etc., which, pardon me for saying so,
appeared extremely trivial to me. I did not press you any more,
but I must confess that when at last I received the news of your
intended arrival on the 20th, it did not impress me very much.
Of my desire of selecting Venice for my place of abode, I gave
you a full account in my last letter from Geneva, in which I also
informed you of the satisfactory news I had had from the Austrian
minister at Berne. I am in quest of repose and absolute
retirement, such as only a larger town can offer to me. My
attitude towards my surroundings must be an absolutely negative
one; in that manner alone can I gain leisure and the proper mood
for my work.
Your warnings and admonitions not to rely on the performance of
my operas in Italy I pass over. Whatever can have given you the
curious and mistaken notion that my journey to Italy had this
ambitious, artistic purpose, I fail to see. I have selected an
Italian town because I hate Paris, and because here in Venice I
am certain to be removed from any possible contact with artistic
publicity. This was not the case even at Zurich, which for that
reason had long since become disagreeable to me. That newspaper
writers explain my sojourn in Venice as a political manoeuvre in
order gradually to open Germany to me, is quite in accordance
with the spirit and intellect of such people. I hope you will
soon divest yourself of the idea that anything similar was in my
mind. As an Austrian city, Venice exists for me only in so far as
it does not belong to the German Confederacy, and as I may
consequently live there in security. This has proved to be true.
Unfortunately I could not prevent my landlord from trumpeting
about my stay here, which in consequence was made public sooner
than I desired. The police which, once more, asked for my
passport, has, however, returned it to me with the remark that
there is nothing against my undisturbed stay at Venice. Whether
this was the result of the intercession of the Grand Duke, for
which I had asked, I cannot tell.
You will be pleased to hear that Venice has not disappointed my
expectations. The melancholy silence of the Grand Canal, on the
banks of which I live in a stately palace with large rooms, is
sympathetic to me. Amusement and an agreeable diversion of the
mind is afforded by a daily walk in the square of St. Mark, a
trip in a gondola to the islands, walks there, etc. It will be
the turn of the art treasures later on. The entirely new and
interesting character of the surroundings is very pleasant to me.
I am waiting for my grand piano, and hope to resume my work
without interruption next month. My only thought is of completing
"Tristan", nothing else.
Farewell; accept my corrections in the benevolent spirit of a
true friend. Pardon the seriousness which pervades me, and all my
opinions and judgments. Let me hear something kind from you, and,
before all, answer this letter soon.
Always and ever thine
R. W.
270.
SALZBURG, October 9th, 1858.
The news about you, contained in the papers during last month,
was so different and so contradictory that I did not know
where to write to you. At last your arrival at Vienna was
announced, and when this premature statement was contradicted,
some one wrote to me that you had gone to Florence or Paris. By
your last letter, which reached me on the day of my departure
from Munich, I see that for the present you intend to remain in
Venice, and that the Government does not object to your stay
there. I wish with my whole heart that you may find rest at
Venice, and be able to settle comfortably, and to resume and
complete your works. Fiat pax in virtute tua is a prayer in the
service of the Mass, which I repeat to you from the bottom of my
heart. The information which I received as to the security of
your stay at Venice was not of a kind to make me think your
domicile there, even for a short time, an advisable thing. Even
now I entertain some doubts, which, however, I hope will prove
futile. It is a great pity that we cannot live together, and I
long unspeakably for the day when this will be possible. Lately,
again, I spoke to the Grand Duke about your situation, and
conjured him to set everything in motion in order to open your
return to Germany. He promised that he would do so. The remarks
in my last letter in reference to the performances of your works
in the French or Italian language you seem to have misunderstood.
By several things which you had previously written to me, and by
your last journey to Paris, this possibility was suggested to me
for discussion, and my only intention was, of course, to explain
my view of the matter to you, without in the least wishing to
prejudice you. The Queen of England had told you that an Italian
performance of your works would be desirable; of Roger's
"Tannhauser" we had spoken several times, and you had also come
to an understanding with Ollivier as to the droits d'auteur. My
expectations of all this are small, and I cannot agree with
others of your friends as to the opportuneness and desirability
of performances in a foreign language; indeed I should think it
more advisable not to attach any importance to them for the
present, and to make no attempt in that direction. But you must
not charge me with having evolved the whole matter from my
imagination. In the worst case, my view would simply be an
erroneous one, but you should not misunderstand or disapprove of
my intention of saving you unnecessary trouble. You have struck
your roots entirely in German soil; you are, and remain, the
glory and splendour of German art. While theatrical affairs
abroad are in their present condition, while Meyerbeer and Verdi
reign supreme, while theatrical managers, singers, conductors,
newspapers, and the public are under their immediate influence,
there is no need for you to mix yourself up with this muddle.
Another point in your letter, dearest Richard, has almost hurt
me, although I can well understand that you think the official
impediments which prevented my journey to Zurich trivial, and
that you fail to give due importance to the University Jubilee of
Jena, and to the many considerations which I have to observe,
were it only in order to be occasionally useful to you in small
matters. In a calmer mood you will easily understand that I
cannot and dare not leave Weymar at every moment, and you will
surely feel that the delay of my journey to Zurich was caused by
no kind of TRIVIALITY. When I wrote to you that I should be with
you on August 20th, I made no doubt that even in case of your
earlier departure from Zurich you would appoint another place,
Lucerne or Geneva, for a meeting. As you failed to do so, I came
to a conclusion which I am only too happy to abandon on your
word.
Enough of this, dearest Richard: we shall remain what we are--
inseparable, true friends, and such another pair will not be
found soon.
During the first half of September I roamed about the Tyrolese
mountains with the Princess and her daughter, and we stayed a few
days quite alone in the Otz-valley. Driven away by bad weather,
we returned to Munich, quietly witnessed the festivities, and saw
our friend Kaulbach every day. Lachner told me that he had had
some correspondence with you about an early performance of
Rienzi. "Tannhauser" I heard again at Munich, but "Lohengrin" had
to be postponed owing to the sudden indisposition of Herr
Lindemann. Since I heard some passages of it from you, I know
more of it than all the performances can teach me.
In order to carry out our original plan, and assert our rights
even against the bad weather, we have come to Salzburg, and shall
be back at Weymar in about a week. Probably I shall find there
the proofs of my "Dante" symphony, which I shall send to you at
once, as the true child of my sufferings.
When shall I have the joy of reading "Tristan?" The Hartels
informed me that the pianoforte score was in print. Have you
quite settled as to where the first performance is to take place?
According to all accounts the Carlsruhe people reckon upon it for
certain. May God grant that "Tristan" will put an end to your
exile. This is my hope.
"Rienzi" with Tichatschek is to be given at Weymar in the course
of the winter. Previous to that I shall go to Dresden, where I
have promised Rietschel to pay my OLD debt to Weber, and to make
ONE exception by playing several of Weber's pianoforte
compositions at a concert for the benefit of the Weber monument,
the model of which Rietschel has executed with incomparable
mastery. On that occasion I shall ask for a performance of
"Rienzi" at the theatre, in accordance with which I shall arrange
that of Weymar, so far as our means will allow us. If I had a
little more money I should have preferred to pay the balance
which is still due on the subscription for the Weber monument in
hard cash, instead of playing to the people a few hackneyed
pieces. Weber must forgive a poor devil like me that I can do
nothing better for him. You wrote to me about this matter many
years ago, and now that the model of the monument is ready, it is
a point of honour to make an end of the matter and commence
casting it in metal. Write to me at Weymar how you like the city
of the Lagunes. I presume that C. R. is with you. Remember me to
him kindly, and tell him that I sincerely approve of his sonatas
published by Hartel.
With invariable friendship, I remain cordially and sincerely
Your
F. LISZT.
271.
VENICE, October 19th, 1858.
Be thanked, dear friendly friend; your beautiful friendship is
the only thing that still impresses me; you give it me purely,
fully.
As regards my fate, I look forward with patience to calm, clear,
quietly active years. My work has become dearer to me than ever.
I have resumed it lately; it flows from my spirit like a gentle
stream.
In all my relations to the suffering world one thing guides and
determines me--pity. When I give myself up to it unconditionally,
all my personal suffering ceases.
I have at last got my Erard. It stands in the large echoing hall
which serves me as a study. There "Tristan" is to be finished
this winter. The first act, dearest friend, is quite complete;
ask the Hartels to give you the proof-sheets of the full score,
which is already engraved. In the completion of the second act,
which I have only slightly sketched, I am continually interrupted
by visits. I have just begun working at it again; it will be very
beautiful, and is to be finished and printed by the end of this
year at the latest. By March the last act will follow, and if all
goes well I shall witness the first performance about Easter. You
are aware that, through Eduard Devrient's intercession, the Grand
Duke of Baden has acquired a right in this work. If he can
arrange to get me permission to go to Carlsruhe for the
performance, it will take place there. But of this hope also I do
not make a vital question; I can wait.
Venice continues to be most sympathetic to me; my choice was
guided by instinct, and has turned out well. This kind of
retirement is most pleasant to me. I see just enough to occupy my
fancy agreeably; nothing disturbs me. That, looking upon this
peaceful scene, I also was allowed to look upon you, and that you
appeared to me in so beautiful and blissful a light as you did in
your last letter, has crowned my happiness.
Be thanked my dear, noble, unique friend! Shall I say more? You
know all that these words imply.
Greet the Princess and the good Child; they are to be annoyed by
nothing in the world, and they are to love me as much as they
can.
I hope that these lines will affect you as sympathetically as
yours have made me happy.
Farewell, and be always assured of my responsive love.
Your
RICHARD W.
It would be a good omen if this letter were to reach you on your
birthday.
272.
VENICE, October 23rd, 1858.
After I had settled with R. on the 21st that we were to
congratulate you jointly on your birthday, he came to me on the
22nd and told me that he had just sent you a telegram. By way of
revenge I ordered a dinner with oysters and champagne in the
Square of St. Mark, to which a military band played the overture
of "Rienzi" most excellently. We drank your health and clinked
our glasses, and had a most pleasant evening.
Of this I send you documentary evidence by this letter.
Your
R. W.
273.
VENICE, October 26th, 1858.
DEAREST FRANZ,
I have just had a letter from Munich telling me that they have
given up "Rienzi" owing to religious scruples. I want money, much
money, in order to get honestly through my difficult position,
and am looking out everywhere for a little business. I have just
offered my "Lohengrin" to the Cassel management. If you can help
me there, do so.
I should not like myself to write to Coburg, where I have been
neglected in a surprising manner. Do you know of a channel
through means of which you could bring it about that they should
buy "Lohengrin" and the "Dutchman" as well? Think of this and
help me in the old way.
A thousand greetings from your
R. W.
274.
DEAREST RICHARD,
R.'s telegram of October 21st was received with joyful
acclamation, and your letter, which arrived on the same evening,
was the most welcome birthday present on account of the calm,
conciliatory mood which I felt in it. May you soon resume your
work joyfully! I hope you are getting on with "Tristan", of which
as yet I do not know a single note. In accordance with your last
letter, I have asked the Hartels to lend me the score for a few
days when the engraver does not want it any longer.
Your hints as to the performances of "Lohengrin", "The Flying
Dutchman", and "Rienzi" in Cassel, Gotha, and other cities will
not be neglected, and I need not assure you again that I shall do
all in my power. First of all you will receive a letter
concerning "Rienzi" from my chief and friend Dingelstedt. The
opera is to be given here in January. Be kind enough to reply to
Dingelstedt's letter with some POLITENESS, and do not be annoyed
at my making this remark. I wish very much to incline Dingelstedt
a little more favourably towards the performance of your works
and to co-operate with him in perfect sympathy. That co-operation
is of importance to me not only as regards "Tristan", which will
meet with no difficulty, and, as I hope and longingly wish, will
open your return to Germany, but chiefly with a view to the
performance of the "Nibelungen," which is our ultimate goal. The
honorarium of 25 louis d'or which our theatrical exchequer can
offer you is very small, but I advise you to accept it, and take
it upon myself to get you a small douceur from the Grand Duke's
privy purse later on.
I should like to have Tichatschek for the first two performances
of "Rienzi", although that would increase the expense
considerably. But I have a great liking for him, and wish to get
him some distinction from the Grand Duke on that occasion.
Last Sunday we gave "Komala" by Sobolewski. I do not know whether
you have seen a small pamphlet "Opera, not Drama," which he
published last year as an introduction to his opera. The
following beautiful comparison occurs in it: "The words are the
hard, transparent pieces of incense, the melody is the beautiful
scent which emerges from the thick clouds of smoke, when the
incense has been lit." In many other things I cannot agree with
him, especially not as regards the marks of punctuation, by means
of which he tries to distinguish himself from you, when at the
end of the pamphlet he exclaims: "Wagner says, OPERA NOT,--DRAMA;
I say OPERA, NOT DRAMA." His "Komala" is better than his comma,
and his practice much better than his theory. There is much in it
that would please you, and has undoubtedly been originated by
"Lohengrin." Sobolewski wrote "Komala" at first in three acts,
and had it done in that form at Bremen. Afterwards, in honour of
operatic theory, and probably persuaded by the critics who thirst
for contrasts and operatic tunes, he added two acts more, in
which he introduced vocal pieces de salon, reminding one of the
Queen in the "Huguenots", and the inevitable drinking chorus. By
his desire I preserved the five acts at the first performance,
but at the second I omitted the two additional ones without any
consideration, or rather, for very good considerations, and shall
even take the liberty of altering his finale, which has been
fashioned after your finale of the second act of "Tannhauser"
("nach Rom"), and after the last act of "Iphigenia in Aulis." In
that manner the work will appear in its only true form, and may
keep its place as a fine musical cloud-and-mist picture in
perfect accord with Ossian's poem. For your private benefit I
send you a few motives from "Komala", which I copied for you.
About the middle of November we shall perform here a comic opera,
"The Barber of Baghdad," founded on a tale from the "Arabian
Nights," words and music by Cornelius. The music is full of wit
and humour, and moves with remarkable self-possession in the
aristrocratic region of art. I expect a very good result.
"Rienzi" will be taken in hand immediately afterwards.
Excuse me for having delayed writing to you so long. I am up to
the ears in all manner of business and correspondence, and have
not had a free hour since my return. Please do not retaliate, and
let me have good news of you soon.
Your
F. LISZT.
November 5th, 1858.
Kindly give the enclosed few lines to Ritter. The additions to
the "Dante" symphony and to the Gran Mass will be ready before
Christmas, and I shall send you both together.
275.
VENICE, November 21st, 1858.
MY DEAR FRANZ,
Many thanks for your kind letter; I had nothing particular to
tell you, or would have replied to you sooner. In addition to
this I was ill during the whole first half of November, which was
more than I had bargained for, especially as it interrupted my
work in the most unpleasant manner. Now I am well again and all
will be right. I am looking forward to the Mass and "Dante" which
you promise to send to me. Mind you keep your word. I have asked
the Hartels to send you proof sheets of the first act of
"Tristan." Perhaps you have received them by this time. The
Hartels treat me with much forbearance. At first when I thought
that the score would be finished this autumn, I prodded them on
terribly. Since then I have left them miserably in the lurch.
Before the end of December I cannot think of sending them the
second act. I cannot help this, because I must wait for the most
favourable mood to go on with the work. The "Nibelungen" question
has also been mooted again by us. I shall have these things
engraved now, and shall leave the discussion of the honorarium
till after the performance. In this matter a very droll
intermezzo has been played, or rather it has not been played out
yet, because its conclusion will probably take place in a few
days. I shall relate this adventure to you when it is finished.
My affairs are in a somewhat miserable condition. "Rienzi" is not
getting on in spite of the continued success of the Dresden
revival. The first disappointment came from Munich where I had
expected to get an honorarium of fifty louis d'or. They wrote to
me that the reading committee objected to the subject on
RELIGIOUS grounds. I pity that dear religion! It is partly your
fault that it is put to such uses now; why do you write beautiful
Masses for the parsons? From Hanover also I expected an immediate
remittance, and could not understand the delay, when I heard that
Niemann, after having heard Tichatschek in "Rienzi", did not feel
competent to sustain the part with equal voice-power. Therefore
it was given up. Breslau alone is sufficiently bold, and will
venture upon it. I wish I could find some one who would do
justice to the real character of the part, in which case he need
not be afraid of singing it even before Tichatschek. I have
hinted so much to Niemann. I am thus, once more, reduced to my
old capital, "Tannhauser" and "Lohengrin", and they are no longer
sufficient for my present difficult position.
D. wrote to me five and a half lines, inquiring as to my terms.
You probably know my reply. I wish the inhuman creature had sent
me the money at once. Good Lord, what Jacks-in-office you all
are! None of you can put himself in the place of a poor devil
like me who looks upon every source of income as a lucky draw in
a lottery. Please, tread gently upon his toe.
K. R. left me today, probably for a few weeks, in order to
congratulate his mother on her birthday at Dresden. If he finds
it possible he will pay you a visit at Weimar.