[...] There could be no more important event in the operatic life of present-day Germany than the re-emergence of a master such as you yourself. God knows, I am of the unhappy opinion that our more recent operatic composers are of total insignificance as far as recreating German opera is concerned. I regret to have to say that their latest offerings have forced me to the conclusion that the people of whom I speak have no other thought in mind than that of pleasing at all costs. They doubt and despair in the uniqueness of what is German, and believe they have no alternative but to adopt a cosmopolitan outlook. They think that if they blend Auberian piquancy with a Donizettian emphasis upon singing, and add a dash of German thoroughness by way of compensation, they will be certain of creating something that is generally effective. In my own view, almost every aspect of operatic life in present-day Germany suffers from this distasteful striving after superficial success; what these people lack is an unconditional faith in the invincibility of all that is genuine & true, for where can inspiration exist without this faith? & how can a work of art be created without inspiration? -[...]
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 67