Most valued colleague and friend,
I must confess that, although my initial shock enabled me to put on a brave face at the misfortune which has struck as a result of your own good fortune in marital terms, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do so now. It was easy for you to say that it would not be hard to find another Sieglinde: it would not have been easy at the best of times, but what was already a difficult task has now been made even more difficult by the fact that it is now so late in the day, and our better singers are already engaged for the summer. But there is no point in saying anything more on the subject, be it good or bad! Everyone has his cross to bear, including your wife. We must find a remedy, but “formally” I shall be godfather for you. - As for Fräulein Kindermann’s kind offer, I could not make up my mind in the end. You see, I cannot accommodate another “soprano” among the Valkyries: all that I am still missing here is the deepest contralto (Schwertleite): since I could find no one else for the part following Frln. Preiss’s withdrawal, my niece, Johanna Jachmann-Wagner, finally decided to take over “Schwertleite” as well as the first (lowest) Norn. In consequence, I should need Frl. Kindermann only for the 2nd Norn; but if I find a Sieglinde, as I most certainly must, she will assume the role of this Norn as well, and the 3 Norns will then be taken only by leading singers. I hope Frln. Kindermann will make it easy for me to use her offer of help; she will always be of use to me.
Would you tell Frau Reicher-Kindermann that I was more than pleased to receive her acceptance and also her conditions. - And now the question of “Grane”. - If possible, extreme in colour; black or white, but not some indeterminate chestnut. Large in size, as colossal as possible! It won’t be ridden. Everything exactly as in the vocal score. At the end of the second act of the Valkyrie, when Brünnhilde gives the impression of lifting Sieglinde on to her horse, the whole group immediately disappears behind a veil of mist which is drawn across in front of them, so that the action - and more especially the impression of riding away - can only be guessed at. - Even if we can manage to persuade Frau Materna actually to leap on to the horse at the end of the Twilight of the Gods, there will at least be no question of our seeing her leap on to the funeral pyre, since dense fiery smoke will immediately rise up and conceal the whole of the back of the stage. But the horse must not be afraid of such diabolical goings-on, and it must be possible to lead it down a rocky pathway (Act II, Valkyrie.) My warmest regards to Menge, the assistant riding-master! -
And, finally, my most humble greetings and good wishes to your dear wife; I honestly believe she would have been happy to have been with child a few months earlier, so as not to have had to forgo her artistic triumph on this occasion; but Loge missed his chance!
With the most respectful and friendly of sentiments, I remain
Richard Wagner
Godfather to the Walsungs.
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 437