Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt Volume II Part 31

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.

Ca.n.a.l 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 att.i.tude 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sport, 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 Ca.n.a.l, on the banks of which I live in a stately palace with large rooms, is sympathetic to me. Amus.e.m.e.nt 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 Ma.s.s, 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 wis.h.i.+ng 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 pa.s.sages 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 a.s.sert 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 G.o.d 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 friends.h.i.+p, I remain cordially and sincerely

Your

F. LISZT.

271.

VENICE, October 19th, 1858.

Be thanked, dear friendly friend; your beautiful friends.h.i.+p 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, n.o.ble, 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 a.s.sured of my responsive love.