For Wagner, the year 1869 was another rather restless and enormously fruitful year, as far as the complete edition of his correspondence is concerned. The first half focuses above all on Siegfried the composer devotes much time to the score, which he had neglected for years. His son Siegfried is born in the midst of the work on Siegfried. In the fall, the world premiere of Rheingold dominates the correspondence, which also lays bare many quarrels, with Wagner demonstratively refusing to attend it. In 1869 Wagner also conducts a particularly intensive correspondence with Nietzsche, who pays several visits to Wagner. Finally, in late November, Wagner pointedly asks his patron King Ludwig II: Do you want my work as I want it or do you not want it so?

“1869 zeigt sich als ein Jahr der Umbrüche, die in Cosimas Scheidung kulminieren. So bietet gerade dieser Band eine Schlüsselphase in Wagners Entwicklung. Ein gelungener Meilenstein auf einer Strecke, deren Ende sich allmählich abzeichnet.” (Arno Mentzel-Reuters, Informationsmittel (IFB))