Dear Sirs,
The impossibility of performing any of my musical dramas in the local theatre in a way which would adequately meet the demands of the works in question has not discouraged me from wanting to make Zurich’s music lovers better acquainted with the characteristic qualities of my music, but has induced me, rather, to attempt to do so by means of a concert performance of individual numbers chosen from my operas. To this end I have made a selection of pieces from all my operas such as can most easily dispense with a dramatic presentation but which, at the same time, may acquaint people with the essential and characteristic nature of my music - as such - in what may be described as an allusive fashion. My aim of providing a satisfactory notion and, at the same time, a genuine enjoyment of my music can, however, be achieved only if the presentation of these items is of the greatest imaginable perfection, and this in turn will be possible only if a combined effort be made on the part of musical forces such as Zurich can assemble only by the most exceptional means. In wishing, therefore, to present something which is at least perfect of its kind, I am obliged to leave out of consideration all the usual complement of local musical talent, and can regard my plans as feasible only if, as a result of exceptional public interest, I am offered the possibility of bringing in the necessary forces from outside.
According to this design of mine, everything that I have planned in this respect and agreed with expert advisers suggests that the intended performance should take place in our local theatre at the beginning of May of this year and that it should be repeated twice within the space of a week. The full orchestra which I need and which must be entirely suited to the occasion must be made up, for the overwhelmingly greater part, of outside players who would be engaged and invited to Zurich specifically for this purpose; in addition, the stage of the theatre would have to be rebuilt by suitable means so as to form a reverberant space for the orchestra.
I have examined this matter closely and believe that the cost of achieving the foregoing for three performances must be reckoned at 6000 frcs, and that, if the undertaking is to take place at all, we must first elicit an answer to the question whether this sum can be raised out of the proceeds of public interest. In order to ensure that this may be so, the following procedure would seem to me best suited to our purpose. The estimated costs of 6000 fr. must be guaranteed by means of the sale of entrance tickets for all three performances, with the price of all seats in the theatre being raised to the level required by our need to make 2000 fr. an evening. But in order to be certain of bringing in these receipts before any start is made on the actual undertaking itself, a subscription would have to be started straightaway for the better and more expensive seats at the necessary price, and all else would then depend upon the success of this subscription.
I lay these suggestions before the worshipful members of the concert committee of the General Music Society with the intention of persuading them most graciously to take an interest in those aspects of the aforementioned undertaking which are not connected with its purely artistic side but which involve obtaining everything necessary for my own artistic ends, so that in all its purely commercial aspects, including all dealings with those of Zurich’s art-lovers on whom claims are to be made, the undertaking may be governed solely by this well-known and highly respected body. In the event of my receiving a favourable response on your part to this wish of mine, I should then confine my demands exclusively to the musico-technical aspect of the undertaking and ultimately see my unique reward as lying in the success of the artistic performance and in a pleasing outcome to the undertaking, since it is my express intention to forgo all share in any pecuniary gain.
In the hope that my request may meet with your kind consideration and that my proposal may receive your gracious consent, I remain your most respectful and obedient servant
Richard Wagner.
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 159