These two new engagements are a great pleasure to me, and
I shall willingly console myself for the loss of the innocent
Abel.
And as Mr. de Beaulieu is just in such a good temper, I advise
you to profit by the circumstance to write him a letter,
artistically turned, to beg for a prolongation of your holiday,
which he will grant you with a good grace, I am sure.
The theater will reopen the 15th September. The 16th "Ernani"
will be given. In the course of October we shall have the
"Huguenots", with a new singer from Prague, Mdlle. Stoger, of
whom one hears wonders.
For the 9th October (fiftieth anniversary of the entry of H.I.H.
the Grand Duchess Marie Paulowna into Weymar) a rather curious
performance will be arranged: -
1st. The Homage to Art by Schiller.
2nd. One of my Poemes Symphoniques.
3rd. "The Hunters of Siberia", Opera in one Act - Music by
Rubinstein.
4th. The Finale of "Lorelei" by Mendelssohn.
For the winter season they are thinking of giving the two
"Iphigenies", "in Aulis" and "in Tauris", by Gluck, and
Schumann's "Genoveva".
Rubinstein and Wasielewski (of Bonn) have been here some days.
Raff has published his volume "The Wagner Question." I would
neither answer nor vindicate it! - My monster instrument with
three keyboards has also arrived a fortnight ago, and seems to me
to be a great success - and on your return I shall pretty nearly
have finished my Faust Symphony, at which I am working like a
being possessed.
This is all my news from here, to which I add the expression of
the old and sincere friendship of your very affectionate
F. Liszt
P.S. - I, on my side, will also write to Mr. de Beaulieu about
you, but it is the thing for you to write him a few lines. The
matter in itself will not present any difficulty.
122. To Gaetano Belloni in Paris
[autograph in the possession of M. Etienne Charavay in Paris]
[September 9th, 1854]
My dear Belloni,
Will you do me the kindness to tell Mr. Escudier that on my last
visit to H.R.H. the Duke of Gotha I gave Monseigneur the volume
on Rossini, and spoke to him at the same [time] of the desire
that Mr. Escudier had mentioned to me in his last letter to be
admitted into the order of H.R.H., before putting himself at his
command? It goes without saying that I warmly recommended Mr.
Escudier to the Duke; but nevertheless he seemed to turn a little
deaf, at any rate with one ear, to the side of the ribbon. In the
course of this month I shall probably see the Duke again, and
will speak to him again about it. On your side do not neglect
Oppelt [a Belgian writer; translated the Duke's opera], who
frequently corresponds with Gotha, and rest assured that I shall
not fail to be agreeable to your friends on this occasion.
Yours ever,
F. Liszt
Nothing new here. The theatrical season will open with "Ernani"
on the 16th September at latest; they talk of mounting
"Rigoletto" or the "Foscari." Unfortunately the German
translations of Verdi's operas are not worth a straw, and we are
great purists at Weimar. In November the "Huguenots" will also be
given, for the first time at Weymar, the late Grand Duke never
having permitted the performance of this work on account of his
respect for Luther, whom his ancestors had specially protected.
Hartel is going to engrave several of my scores. Four or five of
them will appear in the course of the winter ("Tasso" - the
"Preludes" - "Orphee" - "Mazeppa" will be printed first) under the
title of "Poemes Symphoniques."
I won't write to Escudiers - it will be enough if you let them
know of my good intentions in regard to them. You know that I am
overdone with correspondence, and, unless it is absolutely
necessary for me to write, I abstain from it, so as not to
interrupt my work of composition, which is my first raison
d'etre.
123. To Eduard Liszt in Vienna
What affliction and what desolation, my very dear friend! [Eduard
Liszt, then member of the provincial Court of Justice in the
Civil Senate, had lost his wife from cholera.] Alas! in trials
such as these even the sympathy felt by those who are nearest to
us can do but little to alleviate the overwhelming weight of the
cross which we have to bear. And yet I wish to tell you that in
these days of sorrow my heart is near to yours, sympathizing with
your suffering, and trusting that "the peace of the Lord," that
peace which the world can neither give nor take away, may sustain
you.
Ever yours,
F. Liszt
October 10th, 1854
P.S. - Try to come and see me soon!
124. To Anton Rubinstein
Weimar, October 19th, 1854
Schott makes me ashamed, my dear Rubinstein. Here come the new
proofs of the "Kamenoi-Ostrow," [Rubinstein had written a number
of short pianoforte pieces named after the Emperor's summer
residence near St. Petersburg.] which he addresses to me for you,
and I have not yet sent you the previous ones! To excuse myself I
must tell you that I am frightfully busy (especially at the
theater), and that I did not want to put the proofs in a wrapper
without writing and thanking you for your charming and clever
letter from Leipzig. Well, here is the whole packet at last,
which you can send direct to Schott. Nevertheless, I am in your
debt for the carriage (which please beg Redslob to put to my
account), and for ten crowns which I borrowed from you at the
railway. As you are coming back here at the beginning of November
we shall have plenty of time to settle these little matters.
