Tuesday morning
Dear Mienel!
They want to make leaving difficult for me. Last night the orchestra and the entire, very large audience gave me splendid satisfaction. After I had already been warmly received on my appearance, and the Beethoven symphony had created a sensation, at the very end—after the Oberon Overture—the orchestra rose and tendered me a tremendously long-sustained, loud round of applause, and the entire hall simultaneously broke out in clapping which would not end, so that between the orchestra's ever louder clapping and the audience's increasingly furious applause I simply did not know where to turn. Finally I made gestures fairly begging the people to stop and go home.
Finally, with great difficulty, I got through with that. But now the handshaking began: the entire orchestra, about 100 persons, had to file past me and shake my hand, and during this many moving scenes took place. But from the audience, too, people crowded around me, and I had to let them all shake my hand, men and women, everybody. In short—it affected me because at last I was made to realize that the people have come to like me very much. I certainly believe that the conduct of my little Queen contributed much toward this spontaneous outburst. There was really nothing artificial about it. It was a tremendous demonstration against The Times and the other critics. And that has never happened before; the audience and the orchestra have never acted so independently. So I'm really leaving London as a victor after all, and very much fêted.
The Praegers, Sainton, Lüders, Klindworth and—Berlioz with his wife came up to see me, and we lingered together over a bowl of champagne punch until three o'clock in the morning. I finally got to know Berlioz quite well, and I'm glad to be able to say that we've formed a cordial friendship. He is really an amiable—but a very unhappy—person.
Today I have a violent headache, and now I have to start packing. Once more I'm going to meet my friends at Praeger's for dinner; then, at eight o'clock, I leave.
Well—good Mienel—till we meet again—I hope, in good humor on both sides. Farewell and share my satisfaction!
Your
good R. W.
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner: The Burrell Collection, ed. John N. Burk (Macmillan, 1950), No. 156