Wagner's Letters

Correspondence by, to, and around Richard Wagner

Wagner’s letters form one of the great documentary records of nineteenth-century artistic life. They reveal the practical, intellectual, emotional, and ideological world behind the works: artistic plans, financial crises, theatrical battles, friendships, quarrels, patronage, exile, revolution, Bayreuth, family life, philosophical reflection, and the shifting circle of figures who helped shape Wagner’s public and private destiny.

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Date	From	To	Place	Words	Subject
March 4, 1857	Richard Wagner	Princess Marie Wittgenstein	Zurich	674	Writing to Princess Marie Wittgenstein, Wagner longs for Liszt and for proper orchestral performances of Liszt's works, rejecting the idea that his response was mere critical recognition rather than overwhelming admiration. He connects his reading of Goethe and Schiller's correspondence to his friendship with Liszt, describes cautious reading habits, and reports that Siegfried progresses painfully but successfully through the Wanderer scene and sword-forging music.
April 1, 1857	Richard Wagner	Albert Niemann	Zurich	273	Writing to Albert Niemann, Wagner thanks him for encouraging assurances and says he hopes they belong together artistically, asking whether Niemann can visit in summer and study the Nibelung poem. He urges discretion after premature press reports, explains that Zurich is unlikely for the production because of cost, and suggests that Weimar may support a specially built temporary theatre if he can return to Germany.
April 10, 1857	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	161	No summary available.
April 15, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	247	Wagner complains that a letter of his about Liszt was printed inaccurately and with damaging omissions in the journal, so he has sent a corrected version elsewhere rather than rely on errata. He insists that any alteration of his meaning would be a serious misunderstanding, and says he continues to live in great retirement and work only as far as his health allows.
April 15, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	30	No summary available.
April 19, 1857	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	511	Liszt thanks Wagner warmly for his Easter letter, saying Wagner's sympathy and praise of his music brought him deep joy and reassurance after years of doubt and mixed reactions from other friends and musicians. He adds that illness has burdened the household at Altenburg, but he still writes with hope and affection, promising to discuss the unresolved Hartel matter in more detail soon.
April 28, 1857	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	708	Liszt reports that another Weimar performance of Lohengrin moved him profoundly and gives Wagner a candid assessment of the singers, praising some performances while doubting whether one soprano is suitable for future engagement. He also raises practical matters, asking about a score of The Flying Dutchman for Hanover and urging Wagner to write courteously to Hartel so the Nibelungen publication negotiations can be revived on the publisher's original terms.
May 6, 1857	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	1,673	Writing from his new Zurich retreat to Julie Ritter, Wagner reflects emotionally on their friendship, his need for her mature sympathy, and the sorrow caused by distance and the recent family rupture. He explains that her support remains his only secure income, describes improved health but nervous exhaustion, and reports that Siegfried Act I has exceeded expectations and may become the popular gateway to the whole Nibelung cycle.
May 8, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	2,016	Wagner describes settling into a quiet new country house near Zurich, taking satisfaction in his study, garden, and renewed progress on Siegfried and the Valkyrie finale, while reflecting on his artistic confidence, publication troubles, and practical matters involving Lohengrin, singers, and the Dutchman score. He also thanks Liszt for his help with Hartel, but ends by expressing serious anxiety about Liszt's health and urging him to abandon exhausting obligations, come away for a true rest cure, and take Wagner's concern seriously.
May 8, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	1,402	Wagner thanks Liszt for the reassuring report on his health but remains concerned for the Princess, then announces with pain that he has decided to abandon the completion of the Nibelungen for now after the Hartel negotiations convinced him the project is financially and practically impossible. In its place he plans to finish the more stageable Tristan and Isolde, possibly secure productions in Strasbourg and even Rio, and he ends by hoping intensely that Liszt will visit him in September.
May 8, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	999,999	Writing to Liszt, Wagner reports moving into the small country house near the Wesendoncks' villa, praising Otto Wesendonck as a major benefactor and looking forward to secluded work. He says he will not leave until Siegfried and Brünnhilde are fully realized, boasts of the completed first act, warns against Weimar taking credit for the Nibelungs without support, and jokes about an invitation from the Emperor of Brazil.
May 18, 1857	Richard Wagner	Karl Klindworth	Zurich	999,999	Writing to Klindworth, Wagner downplays his connection with Praeger, saying their intercourse was superficial and served mainly his own need for easy, joking relaxation. He insists Praeger was never in a position to betray any real confidence, because Wagner never placed him on an intimate or serious footing.
May 19, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	243	Wagner asks Liszt to send along any useful Hartel correspondence, since he is reluctantly trying every possible means to sell his work and secure a dependable income for the coming years. He says he has invited the publishers to Zurich so he and Klindworth can present part of the Nibelungen to them, requests the return of the Rhinegold piano score for that purpose, and closes by anxiously asking for better news of Liszt's health.
May 21, 1857	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	69	Writing to Mathilde Wesendonck, Wagner reports that inspiration is returning as a melody finds its place in Siegfried's final scene. He also describes the opening of Act II emerging as Fafner's Rest, with a humorously comfortable motif.
May 30, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	50	Wagner sends a brief, affectionate reproach to Liszt for his silence. He begs for some sign of how Liszt is doing and asks whether Liszt forgives his anxious concern.
May 31, 1857	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Zurich	356	Writing to Hans von Bülow, Wagner describes an extreme sense of isolation from the world, mixing disdain, longing, and dreamlike detachment. He admits his desire to continue the Nibelungs has vanished without financial support and turns anxiously and angrily to Liszt's declining health, condemning the exhausting musical festivals and public activity that he believes may destroy him.
June 9, 1857	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	1,067	Liszt reassures Wagner that his health has improved after the Aix festival, reports on the Princess's long illness and gradual recovery, and expresses pleasure that Wagner has found a peaceful new home in Zurich where he can continue the Nibelungen undisturbed. He then reviews his negotiations with Hartel in detail, advising Wagner to remain calm, avoid rash words, and rely on a personal Zurich meeting to convince the cautious publishers of the artistic and practical promise of the work.
June 22, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	649	Writing to Liszt, Wagner says he has abandoned the effort to complete the Nibelungs for now, leaving Young Siegfried in the forest until conditions make the work easier or personally producible. He outlines a practical turn to Tristan und Isolde, possibly for Strasbourg and even Rio de Janeiro, while reflecting on his uneasy dependence on the Wesendoncks, frustration with Weimar and Härtel, and painful pleasure in Liszt's symphonic poems.
July 9, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	416	Wagner asks Liszt to lend Rockel the Rhinegold score for several weeks, and if possible some of Liszt's symphonic poems as well, hoping the music will encourage the discouraged exile and enlist his serious attention to their newer works. He then reports promising signs of support from the Grand Duke of Baden and Devrient for a possible Tristan premiere at Carlsruhe under his own direction, and again looks ahead eagerly to Liszt's September visit.
July 9, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	262	Writing to Liszt, Wagner reports a surprisingly warm letter from the Grand Duke of Baden, which he sees as a first breach in the courtly caution surrounding him. He says Eduard Devrient approved the Tristan project, discouraged Strasbourg, and undertook to seek a Karlsruhe premiere under Wagner's direction, making Wagner feel he must soon perform another artistic miracle.
July 10, 1857	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	742	Liszt responds with sympathy to Wagner's suspension of the Nibelungen, urging patience and insisting that a better moment will come, while welcoming Tristan as a wise new project that may eventually lead Wagner back to the larger cycle. He reports continued concern over the Princess's illness, his own planned cure at Aix-la-Chapelle, Weimar affairs surrounding the Schiller-Goethe monument and his Faust Symphony, and even offers practical casting advice by suggesting Rosa Milde as a possible Isolde.
July 10, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	127	No summary available.
August 15, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	69	No summary available.
September 6, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	230	Wagner reproaches Liszt sorrowfully for failing to visit or even explain his absence after earlier letters had raised clear expectations of a meeting. He asks forgiveness for any offense he may have given, suspects someone may have turned Liszt against him, and sends along a copy of the Tristan poem through B.
September 20, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	47	No summary available.
September 29, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	58	Writing to Liszt, Wagner reproaches him for failing to come without any explanation. He adds that Hans and Cosima have become very dear to him during their visit and are leaving with a transcript of Tristan that he wrote while Bülow was there.
September 30, 1857	Richard Wagner	Breitkopf and Härtel	Zurich	285	Writing to Breitkopf and Härtel, Wagner formally explains that he is interrupting work on the Nibelungs to compose Tristan und Isolde, a less demanding work he hopes can be produced soon after completion. He emphasizes the modest staging and musical appeal of the subject, notes his willingness to have the poem translated into Italian, and asks advice on securing copyright in France, England, and Italy.
October 1, 1857	Richard Wagner	Otto Wesendonck	Zurich	78	No summary available.
October 8, 1857	Richard Wagner	Julie Ritter	Zurich	412	Writing to Julie Ritter, Wagner sends the Tristan poem, reports that composition has begun, and explains that its practical prospects led him to set aside the Nibelungs for a year after reaching the end of Siegfried Act II. He also warmly describes Hans and Cosima von Bülow's three-week visit, during which he read new acts of Tristan, heard much music, and found Bülow's pianism and the young couple's vitality deeply restorative.
October 15, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	37	No summary available.
November 3, 1857	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	805	Liszt writes from Dresden with affectionate memories of Wagner, mentions current rehearsals of his own symphonies, reports family and theater news, praises the Tristan subject while raising a small dramatic doubt about Brangane, and asks Wagner's advice about cuts for a planned Weimar Rienzi. The same entry also includes Wagner's ardent message of spiritual solidarity for Liszt's Dante performance, assuring him that his deepest understanding and companionship are with Wagner alone rather than with the surrounding public.
November 5, 1857	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	140	No summary available.
December 1, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	24	No summary available.
December 4, 1857	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	212	No summary available.
December 24, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	19	No summary available.
December 31, 1857*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	45	No summary available.
January 1, 1858	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	764	At the start of the new year Wagner sends Liszt an intensely affectionate greeting, lamenting the missed visit, saying that being with Liszt is his true source of strength, and wishing above all for a sudden reunion. He reports that he has just finished the first act of Tristan and plans to complete and stage it the next winter season, while mixing literary, domestic, and social anecdotes with renewed assurances of love for Liszt and warm greetings to the Altenburg household.
January 1, 1858	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Zurich	220	Writing a New Year greeting to Liszt, Wagner reports finishing Act I of Tristan and describes serenading Frau Wesendonck on her birthday with an orchestra and an occasional composition. He plans to work industriously toward a premiere the following winter, reads Calderón with thoughts of learning Spanish, and jokes about trying to be socially smoother despite his dislike of professorial company.
January 4, 1858	Richard Wagner	Breitkopf and Härtel	Zurich	799	Writing to Breitkopf and Härtel, Wagner offers Tristan und Isolde for publication, presenting it as a practical, melodious, and theatrically attractive work that should spread quickly through German theatres after a hoped-for Karlsruhe premiere. He asks 600 louis d'or payable by act, requests rapid score printing and Bülow's piano arrangement, and proposes both a handsome literary edition and a cheaper theatrical libretto to prepare the public.
January 5, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	73	No summary available.
January 8, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	380	Wagner proposes meeting Liszt in Paris or, if that is inconvenient, in Strasbourg so they can discuss his changing plans and secure Liszt's approval for his new undertakings. He then lays out his urgent financial distress in detail and asks Liszt to help him obtain and send one thousand francs so he can travel without leaving his wife entirely without support.
January 15, 1858	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	174	Liszt replies that he cannot raise money in Weimar immediately, but has already arranged for Wagner to receive the requested thousand francs in Paris through his son-in-law Emile Ollivier. He adds that he could come to Strasbourg for a day if conversation is truly needed, and hints that the Princess has conceived a promising idea which Wagner will soon hear about directly.
January 15, 1858	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	200	No summary available.
January 16, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	77	Wagner writes briefly from Paris to say that he has arrived exhausted and taken a quiet room at the Grand Hotel du Louvre. He says his difficulties are serious, expects help from Liszt, and promises a fuller letter once he is calmer.
January 18, 1858	Richard Wagner	Hans von Bülow	Paris	252	Writing to Hans von Bülow from Paris, Wagner says Cosima's reserve has hurt him and fears that his rough or derisive openness may have alienated someone he values. He explains that he is in Paris partly to sound out a possible mediator for a French Tannhäuser production and copyright protection, while also welcoming a reason to be temporarily away from Zurich.
January 20, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	81	Wagner bursts into gratitude for Liszt's friendship and love, saying that such devotion makes unhappiness impossible. He longs for the two of them to live together, then reflects sadly on the thought that one may have to be parted from what one loves most.
January 20, 1858	Richard Wagner	Albert Niemann	Paris	236	Writing to Albert Niemann from Paris, Wagner confidentially says he has interrupted the Nibelung dramas to create the more practical Tristan und Isolde for the next winter and hopes for Niemann's participation. He also urges prompt efforts to bring Rienzi to better theatres, especially because he believes Niemann could triumph in its brilliant title role where earlier inadequate singers hindered the opera.
January 24, 1858	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Paris	398	Writing to Liszt from Paris, Wagner says his chief purpose is to secure copyright in his operas, while exploring Carvalho and the Théâtre Lyrique as possible means for a French Rienzi. He describes warm contact with Ollivier, a visit from Berlioz, weakened health, renewed excitement over Tristan Act I, and Härtel's cautious counteroffer to publish Tristan for a much reduced fee that he expects to accept.
January 25, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	2,269	Writing from Paris, Wagner reflects at length on his discovery of Calderon, his philosophical revulsion from Parisian society, and his surprising inner calm, while explaining that his practical aim is to secure property rights in his operas and perhaps exploit opportunities there without artistic illusion. He discusses possible dealings over Rienzi and Tannhauser with Paris theaters, thanks Liszt again for the urgently needed loan, notes Hartel's conditional acceptance of Tristan, and says that besides Liszt and Calderon, only the first act of Tristan gives him real encouragement.
January 30, 1858	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	—	721	Liszt responds warmly to Wagner's enthusiasm for Calderon, reports on delayed plans for Rienzi and upcoming Lohengrin rehearsals in Weimar, praises Lohengrin as a work that closes the old operatic world, and remains skeptical but supportive about Wagner's prospects in Paris. The same entry also includes Wagner's urgent practical note asking Liszt to help intimidate a waiter suspected of robbing him so the money may be quickly restored before the man disappears.
No letters found.

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