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AMS in German, signed "Richard Wagner," one page both sides, 8.75 x 11, August 28, 1875. Wagner's handwritten announcement of the inauguration of the Bayreuth Festival Theater, where, for the first time, his 'Ring' cycle was to be performed in its entirety. In part (translated): "'The Ring of the Nibelung' is now to premiere in the summer of 1876 at the festival theater in Bayreuth, which was built especially for this production. The three performances of the complete work, which I have promised to my patrons, will take place on consecutive days." Here, he writes the dates of the performances of "Das Rheingold [The Rhinegold]," "Die Walküre [The Valkyrie]," "Siegfried," and "Götterdämmerung [Twilight of the Gods]."
He goes on to explain: "I have been fortunate enough to be able to make this announcement primarily due to the devotion and self-sacrificial assiduousness of those excellent artists who I myself hired, whose cooperation and whose painstaking diligence in all of their work has assisted in making this year's rehearsals an unprecedented success. It is they who have enabled me to make this announcement. I feel uniquely and faithfully supported by the loyal assistance of my artistic associates, who have furnished me with their noblest efforts without receipt of any fee, indeed mostly without any recompense whatsoever for their sacrifice, and so I now faithfully believe that I can expect the sympathies of the wider world, insofar as the commercial performance of my production, which will not earn a profit, demands them.
Accordingly, I herewith invite you again to support this project, support which I only envisage as consisting in participation in its patronage, reflecting my original intentions and under the repeatedly publicized conditions, in this I remain steadfast in my desire to afford poorer artists and art-lovers wholly complimentary entry to the performances; to the purely curious, who have done nothing to support the project, however, I remain resolutely opposed to admitting to the festival theater, even against the payment of such a high ticket fee." In very good to fine condition, with light creasing in the margins.
Richard Wagner's magnum opus, The Ring of the Nibelung, was first performed in its complete four-opera cycle at the 1876 Bayreuth Festival, on the dates here appointed. These operas, consisting of Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), remain some of Wagner's most famous works. The Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) is the final opera in Wagner's epic cycle and brings the monumental tale of gods, heroes, and the cursed ring to a dramatic conclusion. The opera follows the tragic downfall of Siegfried and Brünnhilde, culminating in the destruction of Valhalla and the end of the gods' reign.
Wagner's longtime patron, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, attended the third and final performance, August 27–30. He had previously followed the dress rehearsals (August 6-9, 1876), where Wagner met him for the first time, after eight years of dedicated patronage. The inauguration was a financial debacle, not until six years later could they afford to stage another opera—Parsifal, in 1882.
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