TELEGRAM
TO R. WAGNER, ZELTWEG, ZURICH.
Yesterday "Tannhauser." Excellent performance. Marvellous mise- en-scene. Much applause. Good luck.
F. LISZT.
BERLIN, January 8th, 1856.
2O9.
DEAREST RICHARD,
From Berlin I brought home so dreadful a cold that I had to go to bed for a few days, and to delay my journey till this evening. I have to supplement my Berlin telegram by the following notes:—
Johanna was beautiful to see and touching to hear as Elizabeth. In the duet with Tannhauser she had some splendid moments of representation, and her great scene in the finale she sang and realised in an incomparable manner. Formes's intonation was firm, pure, and correct, and there was no sign of fatigue in the narration, where his sonorous, powerful voice told admirably. Altogether Formes is not only adequate but highly satisfactory, in spite of his small stature, which, especially by the side of Johanna, somewhat interferes with the illusion. Herr Radwaner as Wolfram, although not equal to our Milde, deserves much praise for the neatness, elegance, and agreeable style of singing with which he executed his part; and Madame Tuczek proved herself to be an excellent musician and a well-trained actress, who may be confidently intrusted with the most difficult part. Dorn and the band took every pains to carry out your intentions, and the orchestral performance was throughout successful, with the exception of two wrong tempi, in the first chorus
[Here, Wagner illustrates with a 2-bar musical example.]