My very dear friend,
If I intended giving Tannhäuser in Vienna as an oratorio, we could certainly have Fr. Wild as Elisabeth - for the sake of her “voice”; but for the theatre I think that the performer whom you consider so admirable as “Elsa” will serve us somewhat better for the part of Elisabeth. I suspect I shall have my hands full trying to accommodate your glass-eyed Swedish Jew as Tannhäuser. -
Is it necessary to repeat once again, my dearest friend, that the performances in Vienna are of interest to me only on the assumption that they involve no concessions to the existing company, but that they are models of their kind, more especially as dramatic interpretations?
Also, the scenery for the Hall of Song is still too operatically “Viennese”. The overall design is very good, but it is too garish and motley in colour. If you think this is the only way of appearing before a Viennese audience, I should prefer not to appear there with you. The background should be somewhat more respectable in colour - there is too much red in the decorations which neutralizes the magnificence of the costumes: the chairs must be made of leather - a dull finish, and the two thrones in particular should be less colourful. &c. -
If Fr. Grahn is making life difficult for you, - get rid of her! We shall never achieve our ideal, and my only wish is that you, at least, are able to turn the affair to good account. I am returning the sketch herewith. My wife sends you her very best wishes, to which it remains only for me to add my own and assure you that I am
Your most obedient servant
Richard Wagner
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 433