Beschreibung:

Richard Wagner
Fine autograph letter, signed ("Richard Wagner"), to his friend Richard Rühlmann, ABOUT TANNHÄUSER AND TRISTAN
asking for his help in procuring a copy of the score of Der fliegende Holländer, noting he is uncertain how he stands with regard to Herr Müller [of Meser Verlag], who he suspects may bear a grudge on account of the matter of the French edition of Tannhäuser, asking him to approach in the first instance Kapellmeister Wehner, and to request a score in the form as it was prepared for Vienna, including the altered ending of the third act, requesting that this be sent to the address of Flaxland in Paris, adding that if Wehner does not have a copy available he is to be informed at once when a copy might be ready, as he intends to leave Paris in the course of the following month; in the closing section of the letter Wagner admits that he is in a very uncertain position, unsure as yet of his future movements, stating however that he is certain that towards the middle of next month he will be in Vienna to rehearse Tristan, the first performance of which is planned for October
...ich bin beständig noch in sehr ungewisser Lage, und weiss eigentlich noch nicht, wohin ich mich wenden werde. Eines steht nur fest: gegen Mitte August bin ich in Wien, um den Tristan einzustudieren, der dort gegen Anfang October zur ersten Aufführung kommen soll...
4 pages, 8vo (20.8 x 13.4cm), Paris, 26 June 1861
A fine letter written in the aftermath of the infamous Paris débâcle of Tannhäuser in March 1861, where after 164 rehearsals the opera was withdrawn following three highly disrupted performances. Wagner's subsequent plans to perform the recently composed Tristan (1857-1859) in Vienna ultimately came to nothing; the work's premiere - in Munich -would not in the event take place before another four years.