Good, Dear Friend!
I have been in debt to you for a long while for your last letter, which I received at the hydropathic establishment. With regard to its principal contents, I never quite knew what to answer you. You reproached me for my behaviour towards the Dresden Theatre management, and showed me in detail that it was unwise and ungrateful to oppose their wish to produce Lohengrin. Dearest brother, have you not quite misunderstood the real state of this matter? I hear that L. intends to give my opera; as I care little for the mere giving, but only that it shall be given well, I take my own measures to guarantee this, and to prevent my work from being presented in a completely unintelligible fashion. At the same time, I naturally presumed that the management really intended to give the opera; had this been the case, they presumably would really have tried to satisfy my wishes. But what is the real truth? They are not thinking seriously of giving the opera at all. There you have the whole story, and I have only made a fool of myself in believing that they were serious in the matter. Have you at present heard anything more about a performance of Lohengrin in Dresden? Certainly not. Well, why all this fuss? as if I alone, out of sheer obstinacy, prevented everything, when everybody else was all aflame to take up the work. Fiddlesticks! leave me in peace with your Dresden Theatre rabble.
You have deeply touched me, however, by so cunningly attempting to produce again in public a composition of mine, and I sincerely thank you for this proof of your great love! By sending me the programme you have caused me great joy, and I had to laugh heartily over it. But I hope you thought of no further result.
You see, they have after all given my Tannhäuser in Schwerin, and the performance must really have been a good one; otherwise I cannot comprehend how the success, of which I have received clear proof, could have been so great.
For the rest, even this does not inspire me with any hope that my operas will really spread now: I know these are only quite solitary phenomena, brought about by a few isolated individuals. Our real theatrical market remains intentionally stuck in its beloved mire, and therefore I have nothing at all to do with it.
As you already know, the theatre-director Löwe is worrying me here about the Flying Dutchman. The man is ready for sacrifices of all kinds: he wishes to send specially to Munich for a scene-painter, strengthen the orchestra, etc., etc. Nevertheless, I am trying to be rid of the matter; but this becomes more and more difficult, owing to the pressure of my friends here. Fortunately, the musical director Schöneck is a thoroughly capable young fellow, on whom I can rely for the chief part of the labour. So now it is almost a mere question how we can borrow the orchestral parts, for here they understand well enough how to copy parts, but not how to copy them out from full score. I cannot apply to L., as you will understand: so it comes to this, whether you, or perhaps Tichatschek, would ask for the parts for yourself, and give a guarantee? The reason could be assigned that the theatre-director Löwe had applied to you; then he in his turn would give you a guarantee. Do see if this can be managed!
Uhlig has now received some scores from me which were in Brockhaus' hands; he must keep me scores ready for any emergency, especially of the Dutchman, of which I have somewhat retouched the instrumentation. He now asks whether it would be more sensible if he took over everything, even what is in your hands, so as to keep a proper account of all that I left behind? As I am really bound to think that the storage of my things must only be a worry, and certainly no pleasure, I almost consider I shall be doing you a good turn if I get you to deliver everything over to Uhlig. That, nevertheless, you can do as you like in the matter need scarcely be said.
For the rest, we are going on tolerably well; and if I get quite strong again, which I hope will be this spring, I cannot, under present circumstances, wish for any better existence than that I now lead. How are you? Are you still angry with me about the Lohengrin affair? My wife greets you heartily, good friend! Farewell! and keep us in kind remembrance.
Your
R. W.
Source: Richard Wagner's Letters to His Dresden Friends, Theodor Uhlig, Wilhelm Fischer, and Ferdinand Heine, trans. J. S. Shedlock (Scribner & Welford, 1890), No. 107