Dear kind Richter,
There are so many demands upon my time at present, but since I wanted to give my Paris friends a letter of introduction to take with them to you, I shall drop you a brief note today because of the other favours that I have to ask of you.
1. The Mrazeks - should pack separately the crockery that belongs to me, & send it to Frau B. separate from the other things. They should try to sell the double-doors. And could you settle Thierry’s trifling account?
2. I have read in Siebert’s Journal that there is talk of a “revival” of the fl. Dutchman in Hamburg. This theatre has no right to give this opera; they have never paid me for it & - some 18 months ago - found my claim too high. Would you inform Siebert of this?
Let us stick with Schelper then.
Persist for the present quite definitely in demanding your dismissal. Guarantees must be given for your future independence, guarantees which cannot be obtained by good-natured means; only if you stick firmly to your declaration will they perhaps turn to me, and only then may it be possible for me to obtain the position for you without which it would be sheer hell for you to remain in Munich. Enough for today!
Be good to my friends from Paris: they are quite exceptionally important people who are, moreover, utterly devoted to me.
Sincere good wishes from me and the rest of us!
Yours,
R.W.
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 380