[...] So - Rienzi is in hand. Thank God for that, I shall always be grateful to my dear & excellent friends. Merciful heavens, how insignificant this or that depressing experience concerning the unreliability of this or that individual now seems when set beside such demonstrations of the most unselfish & undeserved self-sacrifice on the part of so many noble friends such as you & Fischer! I am reconciled to all the other million inhabitants of this earth if I can number two such excellent fellows as my friends! I can well imagine what a struggle it was! I still do not know what to make of Baron von Lüttichau’s remarkable change of attitude: but I think it would be best not to ascribe it to any malevolent influence: it strikes me as entirely natural that this gentleman should begin to harbour doubts about my opera, - what a man like Herr Lüttichau cannot grasp & feel, he does not consider himself justified in believing. Winkler wrote to say that Meyerbeer was expected in Berlin, & that he intended persuading him to badger Herr Lüttichau on my behalf. Did anything come of this? You did not say a word about Reissiger; how are things with him? Do you suspect him? To be honest - Reissiger’s position - as both opera composer & conductor - is a matter of genuine & serious concern: he may be the best fellow in the world, but he could still succumb to the temptation to jeopardize the chances of even an imaginary rival. I shall have to behave very diplomatically towards him: if he is genuinely well-disposed towards me, I should be heartily glad of it, & shall certainly not feign friendship in return; & I should be genuinely sorry if my diplomacy were to run counter to my true feelings towards him. Herr Lewy, who has been in Paris for the last week & who will probably be leaving us today, spoke of Reissiger, his opera & so on most respectfully & favourably; - but yesterday - as it seemed ( - & as I flatter myself - ) on a friendly impulse he recommended that I treat Reissiger with great circumspection: - without wishing to be too personal, he said he felt obliged to consider Reissiger weak-willed & lacking any firmness of character: - he warned me & recommended most insistently that I should go to Dresden sooner rather than later, in order to be present & see for myself. It goes without saying that I shall come to the performance of my opera & in any event shall arrive about a week early: I shall then see what is going on, and hope that your friendly advice may be sufficient to guide me. —
All that I have heard from various quarters concerning the beauty of the Dresden Theatre, its splendid furnishings, its admirable band & the excellence of its ensemble fills me with a great sense of joy. If Herr Fischer remains unflinchingly loyal to me (as I have every reason to hope), then I certainly have cause to look forward to the performance with keen anticipation.
The thoughtful and conscientious way in which you intend costuming my opera, and which indeed has long been your intention, is an amiable demonstration of your great kindness: as far as these points are concerned, it is clear that, for my own part, I need have no further worries, - for I know that I am in the best of hands! But how do things stand with the scenery? Much of it will have to be built specially, & even though the Dresden stage sets are in good condition, so that it would be senseless of me to demand that the existing stock should not be put to the appropriate use, there are none the less some individual sets, e.g. (Act I) the church of St John Lateran in the background, (Act IV) the same in the foreground & to one side, (Act II) the view of Rome through the main door, & (Act V) the Capitol itself in the background, which cannot be adequately & characterfully assembled without new & additional sets being provided. Is anyone thinking about this and working on it? -
My more detailed comments on the performance which I sent to Herr Fischer will in any case have been passed on to you; unfortunately I fear that my suggestions there will not be sufficient. In view of your earlier report, I had expected Herr Fischer to take upon himself the task of working out some scheme for shortening my opera: - this would definitely have been the best, the most expedient & most speedy solution; a judicious & intelligent outsider is in a far better position to do this sort of thing adequately than the author himself, who is naturally very biassed in his own favour. The cuts which I suggested will have little effect on the overall length, and I am afraid that they have often been made in a clumsy & detrimental fashion. - I would therefore ask Herr Fischer to undertake a further series of cuts according to his own judgement. - I shall be satisfied with whatever he does. - The best solution as regards shortening the work would be to tackle the ballet: if the number & sequence of the individual dances is to be retained as indicated in my recent letter, I suggest that they all be duly shortened, which will also make them easier to stage.
The ballet should be less of an actual dance, i.e. dancers waving their legs in the air, since this sort of thing is profoundly repugnant to me - even when performed to perfection as it is here in Paris. — The warlike ceremonial dance (Act II) is performed for the most part by soldiers, & the great dance at the end should be more of a festive round with groupings & only brief intermittent solos by the male & female dancers. In this way we shall best avoid exposing the partie honteuse of the Dresden Court Ballet. But I am still very much attached to the idea of the pantomime, & if, as I hope, the opera is performed in Berlin, it (the pantomime) must unquestionably be included, since it would look very odd if it were omitted in Dresden, particularly in view of the fact that it is easier to present than the ballet itself (given the shortcomings of the latter); three or four good actors can surely be found, & that is all that is needed. The question is whether there are 3—4 actors in Dresden who would enjoy becoming involved. I discussed the matter with Lewy: he was of the opinion that this type of pantomime is something new to Dresden, and he encouraged me, among other things, to pay a brief visit to Dresden in order to obtain the 3-4 actors I need by dint of personal persuasion. But I have no reason to set any great store by personal influence, & am convinced that other means would certainly be more appropriate here. What does Herr Fischer say to this? What do you yourself think?
How have the parts been cast? Have my suggestions been taken into account as suitable & sensible? The casting of Fräulein Marx in the role of Irene is something which, as the author of the piece, I do not like in the least; a laughing coloratura soprano, as I can well imagine the lady to be, will stand out like a sore thumb: I really cannot see where she will find the opportunity to show off her roulades, - & where it might occur to her to introduce them, I should be certain to object most violently. In fact I imagined Rienzi’s sister to be a very touching, noble young girl, & am counting on her a good deal in the final act; Fräulein Wüst ( - apart from her height - ) would have been ideal; if Mme Devrient would also prefer this arrangement, perhaps we should see what can still be done to give the part to Fräulein Wüst; - but if Mme Devrient has no strong views on the matter, if the part has already been allotted to Fräulein Marx, & if changes cannot be made without incurring great hostility & possibly with unfortunate repercussions, - I suppose that things will have to be left as they are! - You must be the judge and act in my name as you think fit!
I refuse to back down on a single point as regards the musical pomp on stage; it is far too necessary & in Dresden can be perfectly well staged with the help of the military & other music corps. My demands, admittedly, are unusual: I require an exceptional body of men, not some ad hoc arrangement assembled after the fashion of our ordinary brass bands; & yet it should be possible to assemble such a group, - especially if Reissiger is well-disposed to the idea. See to it that in the first act the trumpeters & trombonists accompanying Colonna’s and Orsini’s military expedition are taken from the cavalry & that they ride on horseback: — this is bound to look splendid and characterful (at least that is how I imagine it), & is certainly feasible on the Dresden stage.
The management must not stint any effort or expense here, - with opera like mine, it is a case of “Either - Or” - you understand me! -
[...]
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 43