WAGNER RICHARD (1813-1883) - Lot 249

Lot n° 249
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Estimation :
6000 - 8000 EUR
WAGNER RICHARD (1813-1883) - Lot 249
WAGNER RICHARD (1813-1883) L.A.S. "Richard Wagner",[Paris], "Prussian Legation" 21 July 1861,[in Franz ABT]; 3 pages in-8 in blue ink, in black morocco case box; in German. Nice letter after Tannhäuser's failure in Paris, when ruin is threatening him, and shortly before his return to Germany. [Composer Franz ABT (1819-1885) was a kapellmeister in Brunswick and director of the theatre. Tannhauser's takeover in Paris on March 13, 18 and 24, 1861, had been a terrible failure.] He thanks Abt for his letter, which he did not expect until the end of the month. The lack of hope that his claims about the right to give Tannhauser on the Abt stage would be satisfied enrages him. For a long time, Stuttgart and Braunschweig were the only German theatres that could not decide in favour of this opera, and Wagner had sworn to take revenge for their apparently unfriendly attitude. Then, when three years ago Stuttgart deigned to take his side, we (very skillfully) chose an old and reliable friend as an intermediary, and the thing trusts itself. The management in Braunschweig needed three full years to reflect on the difficult case of approving its Tannhauser. He knows the challenges there, and the Duke's personal aversion to him does not work in his favour. So if he creates challenges now, it does not disappoint his opponent, but rather his friend, who has given evidence of benevolence and affection. All this means that in order not to spoil the success of its effects, Wagner will have to abandon his requirement of 50 louis d'or and be satisfied with less! We are not supposed to be worth much, and despite all our successes, we must be treated at the old fee rate until the end of time! He urged his friend to do what he could: insist on the 50 louis d'or while he could; at the last extreme Wagner would drop to thirty, but no more. If we do not grant him this, in its entirety, while we spare near Braunschweig the scourge of his diabolical opera ("meiner böser Oper"), and that unified I
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