Richard Wagner. Three autograph letters, including to Franz Müller and Georg Aloys Schmitt, about "Rienzi" and "Tristan", 1862-1866

Richard Wagner

Three autograph letters signed ("Richard Wagner"), including to Franz Müller and Georg Aloys Schmitt, ABOUT TRISTAN and RIENZI

1) to an unidentified correspondent, informing him that he has promised young Weissheimer that he will perform something new of his, the overture to Die Meistersinger, at one of his concerts, and also asking him to send his honorar to his wife in Dresden, 1 page, 8vo, Biebrich, 15 September 1862, two tiny marginal tears, light spotting, small damp-stain

2) to [Franz Müller in Weimar], ABOUT TRISTAN, concerning a plan to stage the opera in Weimar, explaining that the Schnorrs would be available in May, stating that for the other roles he would accept the singers available at Weimar, expressing his trust in Lassen, the director of music, noting that he would conduct all the performances, pointing out humorously that a performance in May would coincide with his fiftieth birthday, 3 pages, 8vo, Vienna, 13 December 1862, slight splitting along central fold, browned

3) to [Georg Aloys Schmitt in Schwerin], ABOUT RIENZI, concerning the possible staging of the opera in Schwerin, 2 pages, 8vo, some modern pencil annotations, autograph envelope, Lucerne, 13 May 1866, staining from old repairs with translucent adhesive tape, splitting along folds

...Nun fiele eben auch in diese Zeit mein 50ster Geburtstag. Vielleicht ist mir vorbehalten, meinen 100sten Geburtstag dereinst nicht ohne Anklang von der Nation beachtet zu sehen. Möge den Mitlebenden einmal begreiflich werden, was in einem Leben wie dem meinigen, so reich an Qualen und Arbeiten, schon der 50ste Geburtstag für eine Bedeutung hat. Wir würden an diesem Abende vermuthlich eine schöne Aufführung meines Werkes haben!...

together with: three autograph envelopes, addressed to Theodor Uhlig (postmarked 9 July 1852?), Karl Eckert and Richard Pohl; five autograph letters by Malwida von Meysenbug (1816-1903) to Eva Wagner, one describing a meeting with Elisabeth Fürster-Nietzsche, 26 pages, various sizes, Versailles, Rome and elsewhere, 1891-1896; and an inscribed visiting card ("Herr Zumpe ist gebeten, zu mir zu kommen"), inscribed in pencil, no place or date

Although Tristan had been completed by the end of 1859, it would be a further six years before it received its first performance, and not in Weimar, but in Munich (10 June 1865). A possible candidate for the addressee of the letter of 15 September 1862 is the Leipzig lawyer Friedrich Albert Steche, who acted as a go-between in Wagner's dealings with the Leipzig theatre direction.

LITERATURE:

1) Sämtliche Briefe, vol.14 (2003), pp.253-254 (no.199); not listed in WBV; 2) Sämtliche Briefe, vol.14 (2003), pp.359-360 (no.314); WBV 3442; 3) Sämtliche Briefe, vol.18 (2011), p.153 (no.169); WBV 4520