. . . I have written to Alwine Frommann urging her to communicate with the Grand Duke of Baden, if only to find out by that roundabout way whether my letter sent to the Grand Duke a month ago safely arrived, and what kind of an answer I am finally to expect. . . .
. . . I am taking up Karlsruhe again; now I will and must know what answer the Grand Duke there will give me; I made it very easy for him, and if he doesn't agree with any one of my wishes I know that Karlsruhe will no longer exist for me. . . .
O God, how miserable all this is! Here things progress slowly. Ander has wholly regained his voice and is now studying with Esser every day. Next week we are to begin the general rehearsals. I worry about Ander. But I get comfort from some, especially from Laube. They observe that Ander's voice is becoming more dependable after each real illness; previously he was less dependable, and all those who knew him only as he was before—as is the case abroad—are right. After his serious illness two years ago, when people believed he would never recover again, his voice was nevertheless so much strengthened that he has accomplished incredible feats in his repertory since then; he has sung more frequently in a month than he was obliged to, and at last even Tannhäuser, which in the earlier days one did not expect from him at all. His illness this time was a simple cold, with a consequent hoarseness more obstinate in the hot dry summer than in winter. Everything in his case is caused by the nerves. When the weather became cooler, his voice returned and even with a greater range and clarity than before: but now he still has to spare himself. By the way he is a very zealous, goodhearted, and childlike man. All the same, I am pleased that Salvi brought along the new tenor Morini. He will appear in the middle of the month, since he first has to learn his parts in German. Ander, who happened to hear him in a rehearsal, assures me that he has an excellent voice, is a very cultivated, passionate singer, and will have a great success (which also spurs him on very much). Morini is still young, handsome (almost like Roger), very literate and very musical, which is most important for me, for he himself was formerly music director at a church in Paris (like Saint-Saëns), piano and music teacher. Thus I have the splendid plan to coach him on the side in Tristan too, which won't be so difficult considering his abilities.
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner: The Burrell Collection, ed. John N. Burk (Macmillan, 1950), No. 241