For the present I have quite given up the idea of Lohengrin for Berlin, though that was the sole trophy I bore away from my last Berlin campaign! The better I get on with the opera, the quicker it will be finished, and the more perfectly I want to see it performed. But I can't see it perfectly performed with Tuczek, Marx, Mantius, and the rest! Well then, away with honour and glory! I am again writing Lohengrin for Dresden! My Intendant implored me to do so and besides he has so flattered me lately with reports of the praises of the King of all the Saxons, that I simply can't withstand him. I am writing the same now to Meyerbeer. If he wants to do something for me he can get my version of Rienzi performed. It really would be much more possible than Tannhäuser and Lohengrin and it would at least bring me in money of which I have much need.
Richard Wagner
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Volume 1, ed. Altmann/Hull (London: Dent, 1927), No. 119