Thine,
F. Liszt
Pest, January 28th, 1873
125. To Eduard von Liszt
My Dearest Friend,
Zumbusch's letter seems to me pretty comforting, and if you would have the kindness to write to him again I hope the bust will reach Vienna by April 1st. Have you asked what it costs? If not do so in your next letter. Of course I do not mean to bargain with Zumbusch (that is a thing I do only in case of dire necessity—and even then am a bad hand at it). We must simply pay what he asks, and leave ourselves to his friendly feelings of moderation, which will not fail…
In spite of all your endeavors and persuasive powers Dr. Ambros is not coming to the Robert Franz Soiree in Pest. He wrote to Dunkl that he is unusually busy in Vienna with urgent affairs connected with the Zeitung—and hence cannot find any time to prepare an address—and besides this is afraid of taking cold on the journey…To all this we can raise no remonstrance, so I must just accept this refusal of Ambros, much as I should have liked a different answer. Some day I will tell you the preliminaries of this business. Last week I received from Freiherr Suttner, President of the Vienna Singakademie and Imperial Chamberlain, an invitation to play a few pianoforte pieces in the concert arranged for Robert Franz's benefit. I replied that an interval of 25 years separated me from my last public appearance as a pianist, andthat I considered it advisable for me to remain within the interval. As I told you last October, it is not my intention to officiate in any way this winter in Vienna.
Herewith I send you an extract from the sitting of the Chamber of the day before yesterday, the result of which is almost as unexpected as it is important. The deputies of the conservative party and of the opposition voted almost unanimously in favor of raising the funds for establishing a new Musik-Akademie. And an unusual honor was conferred upon me on the occasion,—for, although I have never come forward in the matter, it was nevertheless brought forward in my name, and this certainly puts rather a heavy burden upon me. I will endeavor conscientiously to do justice to the honor as well as the burden. For the last couple of days a stupid feverish cold in the head has kept me in bed. Tomorrow, however, I shall be up and about again.
Faithfully thine,
F. Liszt