According to Wagners plan, 1862 was to have been the Meistersinger year. Although the libretto was completed in January, its musical setting dragged on and was ultimately postponed. Among the reasons for this were his relocation to the town of Biebrich am Rhein, his crushing financial concerns, the constant flow of summer visitors from near and far, his temporary invalidity of several weeks following a dog bite...
All of this can be read in detail in the letters which also include Wagners artistic successes of that year: In Frankfurt, he conducted his Lohengrin for the very first time (twelve years after the first performance!); he introduced the Meistersinger Overture in Leipzig and organized concerts with scenes from his operas in Vienna.
Of far-reaching biographical import are his complete amnesty he was once again allowed to return to his native Saxony as well as his further distancing and ultimately final separation from his wife Minna.
