You are quite right, dearest friend, if you attribute the weakness of Berlioz's way of working to the poem, and my opinion perfectly coincides with yours on this point; but you have been erroneously led to believe that Berlioz is rewriting his Cellini. This is not the case; the question at issue is simply a very considerable cut, nearly a whole tableau, which I have proposed to Berlioz and which he has approved, so that at the next performance Cellini will be given in three tableaux instead of four. If it interests you, I will send you the new libretto together with the old, and I think you will approve of the change and of the combination of the last two tableaux into one. I thank you cordially for your offer to let Berlioz have Wieland, and shall talk to him about it when he is in Weimar. Unfortunately it must be feared that the Parisians will not relish it, and Henri Blaze is in any case not the man who could treat such a subject poetically and do it justice. Above all, dearest, best friend, do not imagine that I could place a bad construction on any utterance of yours about one man or the other. My sympathy for you and my admiration of your divine genius are surely too earnest and genuine to let me overlook their necessary consequences. You can and must not be different from what you are; and, as you are, I esteem, understand, and love you with my whole heart. Your Faust overture you will receive by today's post. A copy of it exists here, and I shall probably give it again in the course of this winter.
The work is quite worthy of you; but, if you will allow me to make a remark, I must confess that I should like either a second middle part, at letter E or F, or else a quieter and more agreeably coloured treatment of the present middle part. The brass is a little too massive there, and, forgive my opinion, the motif in F is not satisfactory; it wants grace in a certain sense, and is a kind of hybrid thing, neither fish nor flesh, which stands in no proper relation or contrast to what has gone before or follows, and in consequence impedes the interest. If instead of this you introduced a soft, tender, melodious part, modulated à la Gretchen, I think I can assure you that your work would gain very much. Think this over, and do not be angry if I have said something stupid.
Lohengrin was given last night in honour of the Prince and Princess of Prussia. The theatre was again crowded, and Fräulein Frommann, who had been specially invited by the Princess, has probably written to you about it. Our further performances of Lohengrin and Tannhäuser will greatly benefit by the influence of our new artistic director, Herr Marr. I have given him your pamphlet about the performance of Tannhäuser, and we shall both do our best to satisfy your demands. I am very glad you have published that pamphlet, and advise you strongly to do the same thing for Lohengrin and the Flying Dutchman. I have not yet succeeded in discovering your designs and instructions for Lohengrin; I gave them at the time to Genast, and they made the round of the theatre here. If possible, I shall send them to you, but I can make no definite promise, for the rage for autographs may have gone so far that I shall not be able to get them back again. Concerning Berlin, I repeat to you what I said before, namely: if you are convinced that I can be of service to the public and still more to your works by my presence in Berlin, I am prepared to perform this duty of art and friendship. My efforts, however, can lead to a good result only if Herr von Hülsen gives me his full confidence and asks me to settle the necessary steps for the rehearsals and performance of Tannhäuser.
As mouche du coche, I cannot go to Berlin, and in that capacity should be of little service to you. Your works, it is true, are above success as it is at present understood, but I will bet ten to one that Tannhäuser or Lohengrin, rehearsed and placed before the public in a proper manner, will have the most decided success. Wherever this does not happen the fault lies exclusively with the inadequate performance. If, therefore, you wish to send me to Berlin as your plenipotentiary, I am at your disposal, and give you my word that the whole world, with the exception of envious and inimical persons, who will be reduced to a small minority, shall be content. But before I consent to this it is absolutely necessary that Herr von Hülsen should give me an invitation to Berlin black on white, and also invest me with the powers which my responsibility will make possible and desirable. In my opinion, it behoves Berlin to find room for your three works, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and the Flying Dutchman, and I have not the slightest doubt of a complete success if the thing is managed properly. Herr von Hülsen will, no doubt, be of the same opinion soon; but in the ordinary way and with the old theatrical routine an extraordinary thing of this kind cannot be done. Send me soon your instructions for the Flying Dutchman. I should like you to write a few lines to Marr, so as to gain his goodwill completely for your cause and to induce him to undertake the stage management of the Flying Dutchman.
Eduard Devrient paid me a visit last month. We talked a great deal about you, and I hope he will do something useful in Karlsruhe later on. You are good enough to ask for some of my compositions, but you must allow me to delay this communication till we meet. I hope to visit you, unless you visit Weimar next summer, and shall then play many things to you. Of my orchestral pieces I might sooner or later send you Prometheus, but would rather not think of it till I have done other things. Unfortunately I have been much detained from working lately, but I shall not tell you of my pains and sorrows; you have more than enough of your own. Let us stand bolt upright and trust in God.
When shall I have your poems? How long do you think the four scores will approximately occupy you? Can you expect to be ready by the end of 1854? Of a Paris performance of Tannhäuser we must not think for the present; and, extraordinary as is my confidence in your extraordinary work, although I personally like Lohengrin still better, I cannot fail to take into account my experience of operatic performances in Paris and to think that the incompatibility of Tannhäuser with the operatic tricks now in vogue might interfere with its success. Germany, first of all, must take the lead, for you have the advantage and the misfortune of being an arch-German poet and composer. As far as I know your works, I still think that Rienzi would be most adapted for a French version, but do not vainly trouble your mind about it. Write your Nibelungen, and care about nothing else. All other things will arrange themselves of their own accord when the time comes.
Franz Liszt
Source: Project Gutenberg eBook #3835, Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 1, No. 86