After waiting in vain yesterday and the day before at Leipzig for Lohengrin, I returned here today. Probably the performance will not take place for a few days; at present nothing can be settled, because now Elsa, now the King or Telramund is ill, or because the bass clarinet ordered from Erfurt has not arrived; and when it does arrive at Leipzig, it is not certain whether the clarinettist there will be able to play it, etc., etc. David and Pohl had informed me on Monday evening that the general rehearsal would take place on Tuesday. I had to conduct Tannhäuser here on Monday, December 26th. This was the second performance with Liebert as Tannhäuser; the first took place on the preceding Sunday, December 18th, the subscription being on both occasions suspended, an unprecedented fact at Weimar in connection with an opera which had reached its fifteenth performance. The house was crowded, so that on the first occasion many people had to be refused admission. The performance was on the whole satisfactory; Liebert, in places, excellent. The tempi were slower than Tichatschek takes them, just as I had studied them with Liebert, for I had been obliged again to have five or six rehearsals of Tannhäuser. Your metronomic indications I naturally accepted as my rule, which formerly I had not been able to do: 69 for the song of Tannhäuser, 70 or thereabouts for the D major passage of Wolfram, etc. The impression on the whole public was striking and inspiriting. The Mildes were called; Liebert was called; and even my nose had to show itself at the end. In brief, the two evenings gave me a degree of pleasure which only my fear that you, glorious, dearest, best of friends, might be in trouble, could impair.
But to continue. On Tuesday, at 3 a.m., with the thermometer at twenty degrees below zero, Cornelius and I took the train in order to be at Leipzig in time for the Lohengrin rehearsal at 8.30 a.m. I at once sent word to David, who informed me that the rehearsal would not take place, on account of the indisposition of Herr Schott (King Henry). David soon afterwards called on me, and gave me hopes for another day. Yesterday they sent a telegram here to summon the Mildes, for Brassin and Frau Meyer also had been taken ill, but Zigesar would not permit the Mildes to go to Leipzig, because Flying Dutchman is announced here for New Year's Day. At last this morning I am credibly informed that some days must elapse before Lohengrin is given at Leipzig. They promised to let me know by telegram as soon as anything was settled; and if I can possibly manage, I shall again go to Leipzig in order to give you an account of the performance. In the meanwhile I have handed the nine pieces from Lohengrin, which H. had recently sent me, to the Hartels; and you will have a letter about them together with these lines, as Dr. Hartel assured me yesterday that he would write to you directly and without delay.
En fin de compte: The Hartels are very trustworthy; and if you will permit me, I advise you to make use of their excellent and well-deserved reputation as publishers, because I feel convinced that later on your relations with them will turn out very satisfactory. As you have appointed me your humble court counsellor, I add the remark that you will be well advised in insisting upon H.'s name being inserted in the title page of the Lohengrin pieces, for there is no rational cause for refusing H. this satisfaction, which he has fully deserved by his faithful and energetic adherence to you as well as by his actual talent. The Hartels will finally agree to this, and I have spoken to them in that sense. Of course, in similar affairs, I have to take the mild position of a mediator, which now and then is a little troublesome. However, so it must be; and side issues must not be allowed to impede or endanger the principal question. If therefore you reply to the Hartels, write to them that you specially desire to have the name of H., as the author of the pianoforte arrangement of your Lohengrin pieces, inserted in their edition, and that if you write other operas later on, you intend to entrust H. with the pianoforte arrangement. H. is devoted to you heart and soul, and you may feel sure that he will do the work to your satisfaction. However, if you like, I will revise the arrangement and after that send it to you, so that not a single note may remain which does not please you and is not in accordance with the design of the composition as well as with the requirements of the pianoforte.
On New Year's Day we shall have the Flying Dutchman here. The two last performances of Tannhäuser have made Weimar your official Moniteur among theatres; and, without flattering myself, I venture to doubt whether your works have been performed anywhere else in an equally satisfactory manner all round. For next year, for example, a new hall of Castle Wartburg is being painted, also a bridal chamber for the third act of Lohengrin, etc. Several slightly more expensive dresses have been ordered, and in May Tichatschek and probably Johanna will play Lohengrin and Ortrud. All that is possible has been done. The impossible you will provide in the Rhinegold. How far have you got with it? Shall I have the score in May, according to promise? Go on with it bravely! As soon as you have finished, the rest will follow.
Franz Liszt
Source: Project Gutenberg eBook #3835, Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 1, No. 142