Dear Mr. Damrosch:
Thank you very much for your kind lines and the expression of your feelings for Parsifal, which, of course, is never to be given out of Bayreuth; but concerning the production at concert, there has been made a very limited choice of fragments, which is not to be extended. The choice, done by the master, is as follows:
1. Prelude, close of the first act,—nothing of the second.
2. Verwandlungsmusik—close of the third act.
3. Amfortasklage
4. Charfreitagszauber
I am astonished that for £50 you got the allowance (permission) to execute the whole Parsifal in concert and I will ask the publisher (about it).
Concerning the performance on the stage, I still hope that the cultivated part of the public at New York won’t agree to it.
Receive, dear Mr. Damrosch, with my best thanks, my kindest regards.
C. Wagner