Dear Friend!
At last I have reached the point where I am able to put the direct question to you—and Hoffmann.
Provided you receive all the necessary conditions, in the form of a contract, for the beginning of your work here in Bayreuth by the end of the month, can you then be ready with everything so that we may plan for the performances with absolute certainty for August, 1875?
Even if you cannot assent to the above, a conference at the end of the month will be indispensable in order that the contracts for 1876 (should this become necessary) can be discussed.
With cordial greetings,
Yours faithfully,
Richard Wagner.
Source: The Story of Bayreuth as Told in the Bayreuth Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Caroline V. Kerr (Small, Maynard and Company, 1912), No. 54