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1059 - "Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg" [the 2nd a…
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Estimate €12,000 - €15,000
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Description
"Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg" [the 2nd art. "der" subsequently crossed out]. With autogr. signed dedication on the title page. Obl. 8vo, 23,5 x 32,5 cm: [135] pp. twelve-stave score and lyrics handwritten in brown ink on thick wove paper, with num. contemp. annotations in blue ink or pencil (1st p. soiled, some stains, spotting or browning, tears without loss repaired on last f.). - Truly exceptional working manuscript used by the Bohemian tenor Josef Tichatschek (1807-1886), who created the role of Tannhäuser at the world premiere in Dresden on 19 October 1845. In his autobiography "My Life", Wagner reflected at length on the tensions surrounding that first production. Admiring Tichatschek's powerful metallic voice and precise diction, he nevertheless found that these qualities revealed their limitations in performance: the tenor proved unable, he wrote, to convey the true expressive depth of the great adagio in the Act II finale (from "Zum Heil den Sündigen"), rendering it monotonous to the point of seeming endless. Unwilling to risk alienating a devoted and indispensable collaborator, Wagner chose to assume responsibility for the weakness himself, making cuts that, as he acknowledged, diminished the dramatic significance of the passage. Our score bears the marks of these fluctuations and the changes made during rehearsals and performances. In later years, in his "Reminiscences of Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld" (1867), Wagner tempered his criticism with generous tribute, describing Tichatschek's voice as perhaps the finest natural tenor of the age, undiminished in power and brilliance across nearly four decades - while reiterating that the same voice had been unable to find, in those same high notes, the expression of ecstatic contrition the passage required, collapsing instead into mere physical exertion. - With Wagner's autogr. signed dedication on the title page: "Hr. Tichatscheck/ RWagner". On the verso of the front cover and on the title page, Tichatschek recorded in his own hand the dates of every performance in which he sang the role, from the premiere in October 1845 - noting the first nights under Wagner's direction - to Rotterdam on 13 April 1870: in all, as he himself tallied, "130 performances" across Germany and much of Europe, from Leipzig and Hamburg to Prague, Amsterdam, and Mannheim. He further noted that 1 December 1848 marked the last time he sang the role with Wagner conducting, and that the revival of 26 October 1852 was given in a new version ("neu einstudiert"). The copyist compiled the tenor's part - voice and text - with summary accompaniment on one or two staves, together with the brief cues of other characters and the number of bars' rest. Stage directions are underlined throughout. - Prov. Josef Tichatscheck (dedication). - Given by his daughter Josephine Rudolph-Tichatschek (1841-1912) to Ernest Van Dyck]. - Ernest Van Dyck (1861-1923), Belgian Wagnerian tenor (bookpl.). - Joined: 1-3. Photographic portraits of Mrs. Rudolph-Tichatschek,- of Van Dyck by Nadar,- and a reprint of a photograph of Van Dyck in the role of Tannhäuser. - 4-6. Issues of the "Journal des débats" of 22 April 1928, with Henri de Curzon's "Revue musicale" discussing our manuscript (seen in Van Dyck's library),- of "Le Ménestrel" of 1 June 1928, with de Curzon's study "Un passage inédit du dernier finale de "Tannhäuser"",- a cutting from the "Pariser Zeitung" of 26 March 1944 on "Les premiers ténors de Wagner". (7 pcs)
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Auction time 06/26/2026 at 1:00 PM
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