Your worship and dear Mr. Mayor,
The willingness which I had already expressed, at the first mention of the impending Mozart Festival, becomes to me, by your kind letter of the 19th of December (which I only received yesterday, owing to the delay from its having gone to Berlin), a duty, which it is equally my honor and pleasure to fulfill. With the utmost confidence and conviction that the resolution of the Town Council will meet with the fullest assent and most gratifying recognition among all circles of society—the resolution is as follows: "That all undertakings in connection with the Mozart Secular Festival shall be conducted and carried out in the name of the city of Vienna,"—and in agreement with the honorable motives of the Town Council "to lend to the festivities the worthy and higher expression of universal homage," I, for my part, undertake with the most grateful acknowledgments the commission to conduct the Festival Concert on the 27th January, 1856, and its repetition on the 28th according to your desire; and I hope to fulfill quite satisfactorily every just claim which is made on the musical director of such a celebration.
Although the excellent orchestra, chorus, and staff of singers in Vienna—long intimate with Mozart's works—afford the complete certainty of a most admirable performance, yet I think it is desirable that I should come a couple of weeks before the concert is to take place, in order to have time for the necessary rehearsals; and immediately on my arrival. I shall have the honor of paying my respects to you, dear Mr. Mayor, and of placing myself at the service of the Festival Committee.
In the programme which has been sent to me, the music of which will take about three hours in performance, I am pleased with the prospect before us, that the glories which Mozart unfolds in the different domains of Art—Symphony, Opera, Church, and Concert music-are taken into account, and that thus the manifold rays of his genius are laid hold of, as far as is possible in the limits of a concert programme. Whilst thoroughly agreeing with the performance of the different items as a whole, I have nevertheless one request to make—namely, that you would be good enough to excuse me from the performance of the Mozart Pianoforte Concerto which has been so kindly designed for me, and that this number may be given to some other pianist of note. Apart from the fact that for more than eight years I have not appeared anywhere in public as a pianist, and that many considerations lead me to adhere firmly to my negative resolve in this respect, the fact that the direction of the Festival will require my entire attention may prove, in this case, my sufficient excuse.
Accept, Your Worship, the assurance of the high esteem with which
I have the honor to remain,
Dear Mr. Mayor, yours very truly,
F. Liszt
Weymar, December 26th, 1855.
148. To Eduard Liszt
My very dear Eduard,