Yes, dearest Edward, on the 19th the Devil will be loose with lightning and tempest. I must say I look forward with delight to this performance of Rienzi, for it is going to be excellent! Singers and orchestra are rehearsing with something more than enthusiasm. On all sides I get loud applause and there is every expectation of an extraordinary success. It must be seldom that anyone upon a similar venture can say, "I have not yet come across a single ill-wisher." Leading singers who have only unimportant roles in my opera and were therefore somewhat sullen at the beginning soon caught fire with the rest and are now working as zealously as if they had the fattest of parts. The cry of the orchestra is, "Here at last is a task which really rewards endeavour." Devrient, in spite of hoarseness and indisposition, has come to every rehearsal without exception and, by the enthusiasm with which she talks about it everywhere she goes, is contributing not a little to creating credit in advance for my opera with the public, so that the performance is awaited with tension as if it were something quite extraordinary. Tichatschek vows Rienzi will be his most brilliant part because he gets more opportunities to display himself than in any other. The only one who might feel jealous of me, Reissiger, seems lost to all egotistic considerations in his personal affection for me. At any rate he conducts himself all the time, particularly behind my back, in a way which makes it impossible to harbour any suspicions of him.
Richard Wagner
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Volume 1, ed. Altmann/Hull (London: Dent, 1927), No. 74