Tomorrow I travel direct to Rome, and shall spend the summer and autumn in the Villa d'Este (Tivoli). There, at length, our "Stanislaus" shall be pushed forward. [Cornelius translated the text to the Oratorio "Stanislaus.">[
With friendliest greetings to all your circle, I am, dearest
Cornelius, ever your heartily devoted
F. Liszt
Pest, May 16th, 1874
149. To A.F. Eggers in Liverpool
[From a copy of the draft of a letter by Dr. Mirus, Weimar.]
[Villa d'Este, June 21st, 1874]
Dear Sir,
Your friendly communication rests upon a harmless mistake. You do not seem to know that for 26 years past I have altogether ceased to be regarded as a pianist; hence I have for a long time not given any concerts, and only very occasionally played the piano in public, for some very special reason, to aid some charity or to further some artistic object, and then only in Rome, Hungary (my native country), and in Vienna—nowhere else. And on these rare and very exceptional occasions no one has ever thought of offering me any remuneration in money. Excuse me therefore, dear Sir, that I cannot accept your invitation to the Liverpool Musical Festival, inasmuch as I cannot in any way think of wearying the public with my "whilom" piano-playing.
Respectfully yours,