Wagner, Richard.

sending her encouragement and the money for the journey, which is solely to be used for this purpose, including 100 Roubles to defray Minna's travel expenses, together with a note to assist Minna if she encounters any problem with her passport; he explains carefully the logistics of their journey to Königsberg, as outlined in his last letter, expressing the hope that Minna will travel with Amalie, telling her that he has asked Herr Möller to meet them at Frauensberg and accompany them thence, to help them bring all Minna's belongings, and explaining that, if they travel together as he hopes, then they can get further help with the luggage at Tilsit from a friend of Herr von Holtei, the Riga theatre's director;  Wagner emphasizes the absolute necessity of their catching the express coach from Dresden punctually on Tuesday 5 October so that they can make the connection in Berlin, urging them to dress up nice and warm and not indulge in any silliness on the way, and relaying copious requests from Mme Günther for shawls and gloves, which he considers pointless, leaving it to her to handle as she sees fit ("...Nun, Kinder, zieht Euch hübsch warm an, macht keine Dummheiten, lauft mit dem Gelde nicht davon, kommt hier hübsch zur rechten Zeit an, Courage, u. es wird Alles gut gehen...")



1 page, 4to (c.26.5 x 20.5cms), closely-written, integral autograph address panel (Amalie Planer...d.h. Aussere Kammischte Gasse No: 148"), Riga, 21-22 September 1837, traces of seal, with small seal tear  

This letter once formed part of the celebrated collection of Mary Burrell, who acquired it from Minna Wagner's daughter Natalie Planer.

Wagner, Sämtliche Briefe, no. 87 (vol 1, pp.339-341)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
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This is the one of earliest Wagner letters to have appeared at auction in recent years, written at the beginning of his tenure as conductor at the opera house in Riga.  It was an important period in the twenty-four-year old composer's development, when he conducted many operas, and conceived the idea for his opera Rienzi and his plans for his career in Paris.  The letter concerns Wagner's reconciliation with his first wife, the actress Minna Planer (1809-1866), and the complex arrangements necessary to bring Minna and her sister, the mezzo-soprano Amalie, to join him in Riga.   Wagner had married Minna in 1836, but their relationship was always rocky, because Minna was repeatedly unfaithful and Wagner habitually in debt.  This letter may show that Wagner had already written a letter of reconciliation to Minna (see Newman, i, 234).  Wagner accepted a position at the opera house in Riga in July 1837, and persuaded the director there Karl von Holtei to engage Amalie Planer as prima donna (she sang the lead role of Romeo in Bellini's opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi on 25 October 1837).