Best Minna,
Either I must give up my work, or engage a secretary; no longer will the two things go together. It is incredible how my connections and necessities for correspondence have been augmenting in the course of years, and particularly for some time past; and yet there's very seldom anything delightful in it! Your letter before last — besides itself requiring an immediate answer — at once occasioned me three business letters (to lawyer Schmidt, about Kriete's — to Boom again, about the scores — and to Härtels, about the preparation of new scores of Tannhäuser): the fourth letter — to the King — I luckily had written and sent off already; not to himself, indeed, but to the Minister of Justice, which is more expedient in my opinion, than to the King himself. I had already hit on the idea, myself, of laying all the emphasis on my (somewhat exaggerated) ill-health. — The expulsion affair here, I admit, you weren't to have learnt from me till later. The malignance of the Saxon Government — for it had occurred on none but their initiative — had so revolted and upset me, that I believed the news of it must make the same impression on yourself. As you were quite upset enough already by the last back-biting, I held it my duty to tell you nothing of this new act of meanness for the present. I'm very sorry for you, if you want to foist upon me any other motive; naturally other people don't shew you so much consideration, and let you know. I had told it to Pusinelli at once, but begged him to spare it you; a course he accordingly deemed wise to follow.
I was advised by the local police, as it was merely a question of furnishing a good excuse for my remaining here, to address myself to the Archduke with the request to let me stay here till a warmer season of the year for considerations of health. That had the best results, and at once came the order to leave me in peace. The success of this expedient then gave me the notion of trying it with the Saxon Minister of Justice also. In my letter, which will be laid before the King in any case, I have submitted myself entirely to the wisdom of H.M., acknowledged the justice of the condition imposed for my pardoning, and declared that I should feel prepared to present myself for trial if my physician had not most urgently dissuaded me in view of my extremely imperilled nervous constitution, etc. The letter is simply of such a nature that, if they don't exempt me from that condition on the strength of it, never and under no conditions do they mean to. So that is done with: — now let us wait for the issue!
What you tell me of X made me positively laugh. I had written the man in a way to make the heart leap in his body; thereon I receive from him a snub — which I enclose for your amusement. That snub he wrote all warm from an immediate perusal of my letter; consequently he has betrayed his true feeling. All his behaviour toward yourself I treat as comedy; the ancient must have learnt that much in his many years of managing a theatre. Away with all these courtiers and comedians! — Well and good: I'm doing all I can to have left nothing undone; but I nurse no hope, and am quite resigned already. I — don't require their Pardon any more, and really shouldn't at all know what to do with it!
In what big town of Germany should I settle down? Not one of them attracts me. To put an end to this eternal hovering, I've accustomed myself more and more to the thought of our going to Paris. At bottom I can be of no more profit to myself in Germany; they are giving my operas there without me, and they go; I spare myself annoyance, and couldn't expect any larger receipts if I were present myself. But in Paris I am personally of need, and that not only for a season, but in permanence; then it will also catch on, and we may arrive at decent funds at last. I am resuming my negotiations with Paris already.
For the present, however, I have only one care — to get done with my Tristan. I need this new opera; thereafter I can devote myself awhile to outward activity, which will do me a heap of good. I haven't reached the third act yet; I must take care not to be disturbed again by anything so soon as I've begun it. But I neither could, nor should I care to, stay in Venice so long as that; so I'm already meditating leaving here by the end of this month. I quail at the thought of setting up again elsewhere, however; so Wille's invitation of a few days since, to spend the Spring with them, came most agreeably to me. Certainly I haven't quite made up my mind yet, but nothing could better meet my wish, than to occupy the Bissing's first étage; I should enjoy the lovely hill walks there, have Wille's cheery company, and even the youngsters I like. Above all, too, the saving would be most important to me; for I should have very little to pay out, which would be a godsend to me after the fearful expenses of my stay here; and there would be all the more for you to fling about at Schandau. I hope you would agree with me, and not grudge me this agreeable interval for work at my third act; the piano and beautiful rug I shall take with me. I expect to have done in 3 months; then a rapid hunt in Paris, and to pick you up at Carlsruhe. — More plans, you see! —
And now for the very latest: New York! They make me an offer to-day for five months at 30,000 fr. and travelling expenses. It seems as if they want to tempt me; so I have roughed out my plan as follows: — I shall ask for 50,000 francs, also Klindworth as assistant, so that I may have only my own operas to conduct and Klindw. to help me even with those. — While they are thinking it over, I shall aim my pistol at the breast of the Paris director, and demand Tannhäuser or Rienzi of him for next autumn, with a contract guaranteeing me a similar result. To attain this, I shall tell him that my opera will still be available to him only this year, and if he didn't accept, I should wait till I came to terms with the Grand Opera, and then he would never get anything of mine. — Well, we shall see which way the dice fall; in any case it's good to have two chances. —
Boom has written me that he and Müller won't give back the scores presented to them; so there I sit! But to think of even Papa Fischer having let things come to such a pass! Now I beg him — Papa Fischer himself — to put an advertisement in the Theaterchronik etc. (also in the musical journals) that the composer would be assisted if anyone who formerly had bought a copy of the score would re-sell it to Fischer on repayment of the purchase price. Perhaps something may come of it. I shall assign him money shortly. —
Your looking better, old Muzius, rejoices me uncommonly. Ah God, how willingly and gladly do I hope! — But I cannot conceal from you that your last letter but one contained another passage which again deprived me of all hope, so that I passed a totally sleepless night and felt wretched the whole next day. Let that suffice you! — You see, I am better again now. I shall attend to more money for the beginning of April, unless you want some even earlier. Take care of yourself, deny yourself nothing, and count on my loyalty, which means to do you nothing but good! — I shall write you again soon, notwithstanding that I must lay aside my work again for the next few days to write letter on letter, as you may well imagine after what I've told you. It really is terrible! In that respect I was better off in my younger years; how little people troubled their heads about me! Now it's increasing ad infinitum. —
So farewell. Don't be cross if I've forgotten anything; my head always gets dizzy with letter-writing.
Greet the three live-stock! They're to give you great joy, and then they'll give it me as well!
Best greetings to all, and best of all to yourself.
Thy R. W.
Source: Richard to Minna Wagner: Letters to His First Wife, trans. William Ashton Ellis, Vol. 2 (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909), No. 162