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Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1886 Excerpt: ... write, he took his sketch-books and there chose among the thousands of notes what he wanted. He used to say that the difficulty for him was not to get millions, but to know how to spend them or use them properly. So long as there is a question of musical notes, that may be so; but if there should be a question of bank-notes, the case always seems to me to be the reverse--it is a much greater difficulty to accumulate millions than to spend them. It is known that with so many operas pouring from his ever-ready pen, he occupied a great number of singers, and he had always something soothing to say even when he was not particularly pleased; for instance, of Ricquier, who used to sing with a downright false intonation, he said: 'Ricquier sings between the keys of the piano.' Berlioz did not use such kid-gloves when he had some fault to find with a singer. He wrote about Duprez, whose perpetual dclats de voix broke at last even his steel organ, although he had for thirteen years tyrannized over the Opera without anybody daring to say what everybody was well aware of: 'Duprez shouts so that he hurts the chest of the audience.' 'Fra Diavolo,' 'Le Domino Noir,' 'Les Diamants de la Couronne' (of which one critic said they were the last diamonds in Auber's crown), and many other successful operas, were translated into every civilized language and sung all over Europe. Fertility is not always a proof of greatness, because quantity is not necessarily quality, but it is undoubtedly more difficult to write a number of great works than a few, just as a horse may well run one mile in two minutes, and yet not succeed in running five miles in twenty. In the year 1844, Auber had great success with an opera called 'Le Due d'Olonnes.' Appointed Directeur des concerts de la cour,...
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