172.

DEAREST RICHARD,

The London Philharmonic comes in very aptly, and I am delighted.
As lately as six months ago people used to shake their heads, and
some of them even hissed, at the performance of the "Tannhauser"
overture, conducted by Costa. Klindworth and Remeny were almost
the only ones who had the courage to applaud and to beard the
Philistines who had made their nests of old in the Philharmonic.
Well, it will now assume a different tone, and you will revivify
old England and the Old Philharmonic. I commend to you
Klindworth, a Wagnerian DE LA VEILLE. He is an excellent
musician, who formerly acted as conductor at Hanover, and there
gave a performance of the "Prophet" at the Tivoli Theatre, of
which the newspapers were full some years ago. He is also a
splendid pianist, who studied eighteen months with me at Weymar,
and you must allow me to send Klindworth a few lines of
introduction to you. As far as I know, there is in London no
pianist like him; but, on account of his determined and open
sympathy with the so-called "music of the future," he has placed
himself in a somewhat awkward position towards the Philistines
and handicraftsmen there.

I was present at the first performance of "Tannhauser" at Gotha.
Capellmeister Lampert had taken much trouble, as had also Beer
(Tannhauser), and the performance was, comparatively speaking,