My dear Van II.,
Whatever scruple I may have in making the shadow of an attempt on
the liberty of your determinations and movements, - a scruple of
which I gave you a pertinent proof by not insisting any further
on your choosing Weymar instead of Bieberich as your villegiatura
during this last month, - yet duty (and a theatrical duty!)
obliges me to snatch you from your Rhine-side leisure, to set
yourself to work afresh at your business on the banks of the
Ilm, -
"Non piu andrai, farfalone," etc. [Aria from Mozart's "Figaro"]
We have to hunt the Siberian bear; ["The Hunters of Siberia", an
opera of Rubinstein's.] and whether it is the season or not, I
don't trouble myself about that. Mr. de Beaulieu has just
answered me in the affirmative about the proposition I made to
him to give your "Hunters of Siberia" at the beginning of
November (the 9th, a date already made famous by the "Homage to
Art" a Prologue which will be again given this season), and asks
me particularly to push on as fast as possible the copying of all
the parts. Now one must kill the bear before selling his skin -
that is to say, translate the libretto, fit it to the music, and
arrange the score for the performance at Weymar.
According to what we arranged verbally, I spoke about it to
Cornelius, who accepts the work of translator with pleasure, and
will fulfill it promptly, and, I am persuaded, to your
satisfaction.
