Will you have the goodness, Madame, to remember me very kindly to my excellent master and friend, Moscheles? and accept again, I beg you, the expression of my respect, and of my most affectionate sentiments.
F. Liszt
Weymar, June 22nd, 1848
393. To Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst
[Portions of this, as of the previous letter, were printed in the "Voltaire."—Addressee the famous violin virtuoso and composer (1814-1865)]
May 30th, 1849
Dear Friend,
Weymar has not forgotten you, and I hope soon to be able, after the return of the Hereditary Prince whom we expect for the day of his fete, by the 24th of May at the very latest, to forward to you the token of the distinguished remembrance in which you are held. It pleases me to think that it will be agreeable to you, and that it will tend to attach you more in the sequel to people worthy to appreciate you.
I should have desired to tell you sooner of this, but the inevitable delays in present circumstances postpone more than one wish.
After the deplorable days in Dresden Wagner came here, and only departed again in order to escape from a warrant (lettre de cachet) with which the Saxon government is pursuing him. I hope that at the present moment he will have arrived safe and well in Paris, where his career of dramatic composer cannot fail to be extended, and in grand proportions. He is a man of evident genius, who must of necessity obtrude himself on the general admiration, and hold a high place in contemporary art. I regret that you have not had the opportunity of hearing his "Tannhauser," which is for me the most lyric of dramas, the most remarkable, the most harmonious, the most complete, the most original and selbstwurdig (the most worthy of its country), both in foundation and form, that Germany has produced since Weber. Belloni has, I believe, written to you on the subject of Wagner, to ask for information as to the actual state of the English Opera in London. I make no doubt that if it were possible for Wagner to obtain from the directors a tour of performances in the course of the year for a new work ("Lohengrin," the subject of which, having reference to the Knights of the Round Table who went to search for the Holy Grail, is of the most poetic interest) he would make a great sensation and large receipts by it. As soon as he tells me the news of his arrival in Paris, allow me to induce him to write to you direct if his plans do not change in this matter.