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SAP

MY RECOLLECTIONS

MY RECOLLECTIONS

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE


FOREWORD vii

I MY ADMISSION TO THE CONSERVATOIRE 1

II YOUTHFUL YEARS 11

III THE GRAND PRIX DE ROME 20

IV THE VILLA MEDICI 29

V THE VILLA MEDICI (CONTINUED) 37

VI THE VILLA MEDICI (CONTINUED) 43

VII MY RETURN TO PARIS 53

VIII MY DEBUT AT THE THEATER 63

IX THE DAYS AFTER THE WAR 74

X JOY AND SORROW 82

XI MY DEBUT AT THE OPÉRA 93

XII THE THEATERS IN ITALY 103

XIII THE CONSERVATOIRE AND THE INSTITUTE 114

XIV A FIRST PERFORMANCE AT BRUSSELS 123

XV THE ABBÉ PREVOST AT THE OPÉRA-COMIQUE 136

XVI FIVE COLLABORATORS 148

XVII A JOURNEY TO GERMANY 161

XVIII A STAR 173

XIX A NEW LIFE 186

XX MILAN--LONDON--BAYREUTH 199

XXI A VISIT TO VERDI--FAREWELL TO AMBROISE THOMAS 208

XXII WORK! ALWAYS WORK! 217

XXIII IN THE MIDST OF THE MIDDLE AGES 231

XXIV FROM _Chérubin_ TO _Thérèse_ 242

XXV SPEAKING OF 1793 254

XXVI FROM _Ariane_ TO _Don Quichotte_ 267

XXVII A SOIRÉE 278

XXVIII DEAR EMOTIONS 288

XXIX THOUGHTS AFTER DEATH 302




ILLUSTRATIONS


The Master, Jules Massenet _Frontispiece_

sPAGE

Massenet at Égreville 44

One of the last portraits of Massenet 68

Mme. Pauline Viardot 84

Titta Ruffo, Caruso and Chaliapine 110

The Forum from the First Act of _Roma_ (_See page 300_) 154

Posthumia (_Roma_) (_See page 297_) 170

Lucy Arbell 212

Persephone in _Ariane_ 244

Queen Amahelly (_Bacchus_) 268

Dulcinée (_Don Quichotte_) 282

Facsimile of Massenet's Reply to an Invitation to Visit America 296




MY RECOLLECTIONS




CHAPTER I

MY ADMISSION TO THE CONSERVATOIRE


Were I to live a thousand years--which is hardly likely--I should never
forget that fateful day, February 24, 1848, when I was just six years
old. Not so much because it coincided with the fall of the Monarchy of
July, as that it marked the first steps of my musical career--a career
which, even yet, I am not sure was my real destiny, so great is my love
for the exact sciences!

At that time I lived with my parents in the Rue de Beaune in an
apartment overlooking the great gardens. The day promised to be fine,
but it was very cold.

We were at luncheon when the waitress rushed into the room like a
maniac. "_Aux armes, citoyens!_" she yelled, throwing rather than
placing the plates on the table.

I was too young to understand what was going on in the streets. All I
can remember is that riots broke out and that the Revolution smashed
the throne of the most debonair of kings. The feelings which stirred my
father were entirely different from those which disturbed my mother's
already distracted soul.
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