The year 1863 was very turbulent for Richard Wagner. Concert tours took him halfway across Europe and all the way to Moscow: "... one now heard my Valkyries at the confines of Asia." Yet at the end of the year, the overall balance was disappointing. "Tristan und Isolde" was not given its world premiere in Vienna, and work on "Die Meistersinger" had hardly advanced. Moreover, Wagner was in dire financial straits since the income from his artistically successful concerts only covered a fraction of the costs of his lavish lifestyle (he had moved into a luxurious residence in Penzing near Vienna in May).
The meticulously annotated volume is illustrated with facsimiles and little known photos. Further enhancing the value of Volume 15 are a number of letters written by Wagner to his patroness Editha von Rahden in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which were hitherto practically unavailable and are published here for the first time.