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.

Year

Month

All Years •

—

All Months • Jan• Feb• Mar• Apr• May• Jun• Jul• Aug• Sep• Oct• Nov• Dec

Search letters

Correspondent

Direction

Showing all years in April (72 total)

Date	From	To	Place	Words	Subject
April 6, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	25	No summary available.
April 8, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	103	No summary available.
April 10, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	81	No summary available.
April 13, 1858	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Zurich	1,279	Wagner sets out a detailed new plan for securing amnesty, including the possibility of Swiss citizenship and the more important aim of obtaining permission to return to Germany temporarily for performances and for closer life with Liszt. He begs Liszt to seek a personal audience with the King of Saxony and plead on the basis of Wagner's artistic nature, changed political outlook, and willingness to avoid public demonstrations, since he expects more from Liszt's spoken advocacy than from any letter of his own.
April 15, 1858*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Zurich	59	No summary available.
April 23, 1858	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Zurich	431	Writing to Minna, Wagner pleads for patience and trust during her cure, saying her accusations and suspicion torture him but are partly excused by her poor health. He defends the purity of the relationship troubling her, notes that the lady's husband has reproached him only for failing to make that innocence clear to Minna, and insists his lifelong concern remains fixed on Minna's welfare.
April 27, 1858	Richard Wagner	Minna Wagner	Zurich	416	Writing to Minna, Wagner responds with bitter irony and desperation to her continued suspicion, saying that whether he is silent or open he only creates misunderstanding and unhappiness. He offers hyperbolically to submit every word, thought, composition, and action to her approval if that will convince her of his love, gratitude, loyalty, and desire to calm her fears.
April 6, 1859	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	323	Liszt warmly welcomes Wagner to Lucerne and hopes Tristan will draw strength from the Alpine air before it goes out into the world, while reporting that Carlsruhe is already wavering over whether the premiere will happen in September or December. He hints that Wagner's recent “dose of gravy” will require serious discussion, promises that after Tristan the Nibelungen question will be taken up more effectively, and then gives a practical account of his own coming travels, obligations, and steady health.
April 7, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	96	No summary available.
April 10, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	539	No summary available.
April 12, 1859*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	71	No summary available.
April 13, 1859*	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	63	No summary available.
April 15, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	905	No summary available.
April 19, 1859	Richard Wagner	Franz Liszt	Lucerne	110	Wagner reproaches Liszt for not sending him the newly published Ideals and for remaining silent even as the appearance of Dante is publicly announced. Writing from a period of bad weather, solitude, and uncertain working spirits, he asks Liszt to imagine how such neglect would feel in his place and begs at least for some sign of life and contact.
April 22, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	291	No summary available.
April 26, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	1,079	No summary available.
April 28, 1859*	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	—	56	Liszt dedicates the work to Wagner in language of deep gratitude and devotion, comparing his own relation to Wagner with Dante's to Virgil. He says Wagner has guided him through mysterious regions of musical and inner life, and offers the dedication as a token of unfailing faithful love.
April 30, 1859	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Lucerne	562	No summary available.
April 10, 1860	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Paris	3,021	No summary available.
April 6, 1861	Richard Wagner	Mathilde Wesendonck	Paris	832	No summary available.
April 18, 1861	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	263	Liszt says that after difficulties and anxieties which had previously prevented it, he now hopes at last to reach Paris in early May, though he prefers to keep the plan quiet for fear of fresh hindrances. He also asks Wagner's permission for a partial performance of the second act of Tristan at the musicians' meeting in August with Schnorr and his wife, stressing that such a fragment should not interfere with Wagner's larger intentions and requesting a prompt answer.
April 26, 1861	Franz Liszt	Richard Wagner	Weimar	315	Liszt thanks Wagner warmly for his considerate reply about the proposed Tristan fragment, saying he fully understands why such a partial performance must seem absurd to Wagner and how painful it is for Liszt himself to be unable to do something truly worthy for him. He explains that repeated efforts at Weimar to secure proper support for Tristan and the Ring always failed over expense, says this failure was a chief reason for his withdrawal from the theater, rejoices instead in the promised Carlsruhe performance, and looks ahead to seeing Wagner soon in Paris.
No letters found.

Page 2 of 2