Der Briefwechsel 1858 - 1874

Pauline Viardot, née Garcia (1821-1910) and Julius Rietz (1812-1877) had a significant influence on the cultural life of their age.

Pauline Viardot was active as an artist in Germany, France, Russia, Britain and Ireland, and can undoubtedly be seen as a cultural ambassador in Europe. She was friends with Clara and Robert Schumann and with Frédéric Chopin and George Sand. She collaborated as both composer and performer with Meyerbeer, Gounod, Berlioz, Fauré and many others, and she was an advocate of Russian music and literature.

Julius Rietz succeeded his friend Felix Mendelssohn as conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. He represented a specifically German tradition of instrumental music.

Pauline Viardot and Julius Rietz first met in 1858 at a shared concert in Leipzig. Between 1858 and 1874 they wrote to each other regularly, sometimes every day. Their letters offer an insight not only into their inner lives but also into their musical workshop, their working methods and musical practice.

This richly-annotated volume presents the surviving correspondence, with German translations for those letters originally written in French, and also included previously unpublished letters and scores and the diaries of Julius Rietz.