Dearest friend,
I have a favour to ask. I am hard at work and eager to finish the poem of my Valkyrie in a fortnight. Some recreation after that will be a necessity; I want the change of travelling, and should especially dislike to finish my last poetic work, the great introductory play, here, where the monotony of my accustomed surroundings oppresses me, and where troublesome visitors put me generally in a bad temper. I want to go to the Alps, and should like at least to have a taste of the frontier of Italy, and to make a short sojourn there. Such extravagances I cannot afford from my ordinary income.
For next winter I expect some extraordinary incomings (Tannhäuser at Leipzig and presumably at Breslau). But, before all, I reckon upon the money which you will get me for the Flying Dutchman at Weimar. This latter I may calculate at something like twenty to twenty-five louis d'or. Could you get anyone to advance me that sum? Unless Zigesar is again at the head of affairs, I should think it inadvisable to apply to the theatrical exchequer for this advance of honorarium, but perhaps some benevolent private person might be found who would not refuse to disburse this sum for me. You would at the same time furnish the best guarantee that the money would really be forthcoming, for your zeal secures the performance of the Flying Dutchman at Weimar during the winter. This advance would give me great satisfaction, but I should want the money by the end of June at the latest. Kindly see how you can arrange this. My Valkyrie (first drama) turns out terribly beautiful. I hope to submit to you the whole poem of the tetralogy before the end of the summer. The music will be easily and quickly done, for it is only the execution of something practically ready.
Richard Wagner
Source: Project Gutenberg eBook #3835, Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 1, No. 79