Volume I Part 38 (1/2)

137

The ”pale e here, and in his honour I yesterday occupied the conductor's seat again, after an interval of eightDutch of last March, and with the same work I resume my connection with the theatre for this season

You may assume that my passion for your tone and word-poeive up my activity as a conductor

Small as may be the result that I can achieve, it is not, I think, altogether illusory We have arranged a Wagner week; and the ”Flying Dutchround and cast deep roots here All the rest is moonshi+ne to me with the sole exception of Berlioz's ”Cellini” For this work I retain reat predilection, which you will not think uncalled for when you know it better

Next week I shall have to rehearse ”Tell,” and the opera will be given in a fortnight ”Tannhauser” will follow immediately afterwards As our new tenor, Dr Liebert, a very willing, industrious, and gifted singer, has never sung the part, I shall go through it with him separately once or twice In all probability the performance this year will be better than the previous ones The ”Flying Dutchiven yesterday, to the increased satisfaction of the public Milde and his wife acted and sang beautifully, and I may assuruh our weak chorus is a fatal evil Four or five new engagements have been made for the chorus, but that of course is by no means sufficient

Iive ”Lohengrin,” with Tichatschek and Johanna, on the evening when the court visits the theatre again (The strictthat time the court box remains empty and dark) If no special impediments arise, that performance will take place Up till then I shall conduct only your two operas, ”Tell” and Dorn's ”Nibelungen”

OfThe poor Princess sends her friendliest greetings She is troubled with a large mass of correspondence of the rant that next sue of the status quo, and that our Zurich trip need not be delayed after the end of June Your ”Rhinegold” is ready, is it not? Bestir yourself, dearest friend

Work is the only salvation on this earth Sing and write, therefore, and get rid of your brain abscess by that means

Perhaps your sleep will become a little more reposeful in the same manner Kind remembrances to your wife from your

FRANZ

October 31 1853

Do you re at Munich? Have you read his pamphlet, and what do you think of it?

Write me tords about it How about Tyszkiewiz? Did you see him at Paris several times after I had left?

138

DEAREST FRANZ,

My threat that I should once more lay you under contribution in an impudent manner must today be realized Listen to me! I feel so hale and hearty at --not only the success of my music, but better health as well--if I can only stick to it without interruption and yield to et up in theat once to my music, I should be unhappy This is the first day I break into in order, if possible, to get rid once for all of this fear which follows e er This I can do by selling rin By the peculiar character of this incoe and h it is tolerably certain that iven at all German theatres, as ”Tannhauser” has already been at most of them, the time when theylargely dependent upon this incoet into a fatally unsettled state of est to me that the royalties to be expected are nearer than they really are By that means I overrate my immediate income, and consequently spend considerably more than I possess By the occasional and illusory character of these theatrical royalties and byfor a pleasanter way of life than I have led these last years, I have been placed in the position of having to pay large su able to reckon upon any incoent as it is, this eternal waiting upon chance, this continual expectation of the post me an offer or a favourable answer, are so troubleso to me, that I am compelled to think of a radical cure, and for that purpose I want you to assist me with the Hartels I propose to sell to the Hartels the copyright of the score of ”Lohengrin,” including the right of selling it to theatricalexceptions only:--

1 The court theatres of Berlin, Vienna, and Munich, which will have to acquire the perforrin” from me

2 The theatres of Wei, which have already obtained those perforhts from me A list of the theatres which will have to apply to the new proprietor will be found on the enclosed sheet It includes all those theatres which have already successfully produced ”Tannhauser” or will produce it soon, as may be safely predicted from these precedents In the case of the twenty-two theatres to which I have already sold ”Tannhauser” the amount of the honorarium received has been indicated; and for the correctness of these indications, as well as for the fact that I a to let the other fifteen theatres have it cheaper than is in each case stated, I pledge ate income from the twenty-two and from the fifteen theatres I calculate, as the enclosure shows, at six hundred and thirty-two louis d'or; and the question is nohat su the theatrical rights, on condition that he pays me in cash by Christmas of the present year; that is, by December 20th, 1853

I should prefer to apply to Messrs Hartel in this matter--(1) because they would be the most respectable purchasers; (2) because they are the publishers of the score and pianoforte arrangements, and are therefore interested in the success of the whole; and (3) because this would at last giveto terht of ”Lohengrin”

If Messrs Hartel remember in what circumstances I at that tirin”; if they call to mind that I expressly told them that I did not believe in the success ofmy lifeti the publication simply as a sacrifice, which they made in the interest of a hopeless but respectable cause; if they bearout of an old debt (of the settlement of which they had, on account of my position, the very remotest chance) to be in these hopeless circumstances a sacrifice on their part, but that at the saainst all expectation, ”Lohengrin” should turn out a success, and its publication a good speculation, they would think of entlemen will not consider it unfair or inopportune if I look upon the circued to such an extent that I may now think of some profit for myself In the first instance it is a fact confirmed to me by repeated observations and experiences that even before there was a sign of a further spreading of these operas by means of theatrical and concert performances the publication of ood business, entirely through means of Weimar and of your efforts, dearest friend In consequence of some concerts, and recently the incredibly successful performance at Wiesbaden, this has beco similar has perhaps ever happened to an opera before it had beentheatres It has also been shown that wherever parts of it were perforrin” was h the latter also occupies the theatres and the public to such a degree that it everywhere prepares the way for ”Lohengrin” It rin”, after the example of ”Tannhauser”, will make the round of all the theatres and secure the favour of the public evenofthe Messrs Hartel for undertaking the publication in the first instance, I venture to remind them of a debt of honour in the sense that they should allow me to have my share in this success of the business If, in accordance with their generous turn of mind, I may expect Messrs Hartel to be favourably inclined towards this--especially as at the tiain than of honour--the question would only be in what n toto letfrom the sale of detached parts of the opera I reo, I proposed to the Dutche pianoforte score after fifty or a hundred copies had been disposed of Lucrative as ht turn out in this manner, yet this kind of income would show the same unsatisfactory and painful features already complained of in connection with the uncertain theatrical royalties, which therefore I should like to sell outright I should then prefer a sum payable at once, and all that we need find out is the price, fair to both parties For that purpose Iin order to rin” much more valuable than otherwise it would be--I mean the publication of separate vocal and pianoforte pieces We all know that the so-called morceaux detaches are the chief source of profit in the case of operas; to publish such would in the case of ”Lohengrin” be impossible on account of the peculiar character of the opera, in which there are no single vocal pieces that in athe composer, was able to separate a number of the most attractive vocal pieces fro the an introduction and a close to theave you so you to keep them till further order and then send theed by me In addition to this, I indicated to B five nued in a sier, which he is to transfer to the pianoforte as independent and melodious pieces

By that manner the bad ied without my concurrence, and perfectly useless, would be obviated

Apart froht, I have opened toto the the librettos for the theatres How very lucrative this generally acknowledged right is may be seen from the fact that in one winter six thousand copies of the libretto of ”Tannhauser” were ordered for Breslau alone

Messrs Hartel offered to share the profits of the sale of librettos with me, but in this case also I prefer to take at once a lu stated in this manner what I offer to my publishers for sale, I think it appropriate to name the lump sum which I think I may ask

The receipts from the theatres (with the exception of those specified) I have in the above calculated at six hundred and thirty-two louis d'or This is a minimum which, no doubt, could be considerably increased I have already announced to the theatres that they will have to pay rin” than for ”Tannhauser” Breslau, for example, would certainly have to pay at the least twenty-five louis d'or, as they did for the ”Flying Dutchht even insist on thirty