A new collection of Liszt materials has been recently discovered: it is the legacy of Liszt’s Roman pupil Nadine Helbig (1847-1922), formerly a pupil of Clara Schumann. A Russian princess, Madame Helbig moved to Rome in 1865, where she married the eminent German archaeologist Wolfgang Helbig and made friends with Liszt’s mistress Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein. Liszt himself enjoied her well-educated company during hi numerous Roman stays, and offered her his precious teaching as well as the dedication of his transcription of Dargomyzskij’s Tarantelle (R148).
Many documents of Lisztian interest survive in her heirs’ hands: among them, seven unknown letters and a telegram send by Liszt to Nadine Helbig, more than 50 letteres written to her by Carolyne von Sayn Wittgenstein, a letter from Cosima Wagner, the autograph of Liszt’s Weihnachtslied “O heilige nacht” (R535) for tenor, women’s chorus and organ, dated Rome, December 25, 1881, many printed scores of Liszt’s piano music with handwritten annotations by the composer, memoirs by Nadine Helbig, that served as the starting point for her Lisztian reminiscences published in the Deutsche Revue in 1907.
In this article only the letters sent by Liszt to Nadine Helbig are published, the other documents and a biographical sketch of the Russian princess being assigned to the next items of these Quaderni. In order to complete the Liszt-Helbig correspondence, two additional letters that were already known are printed here. Every document is annotated and supplied with a large number of quotations from other letters or memoirs to illuminate names and events that are mentioned. Especially interesting is the letter dated Bayreuth, April 12, 1878, about the genesis of the two “threnodies” Aux cyprès de la Villa d’Este and the first private hearing of Parsifal.