The master then lived in the Rue Chaussee
d'Antin, No. 2. Under his windows the orchestra and chorus of the
opera commenced the concert about half an hour after midnight, by
the light of torches, and Faure sang the solos.
The government which secured the representation of Guillaume Tell
was not afraid of the words "independence" and "liberty." A year
and a half before, the 20th of February, 1828, there had been
given at the Opera the chef-d'oeuvre of Auber, La Muette de
Portici, and the Duchess of Berry, a Neapolitan princess, had
applauded the Naples Revolution put into music.
The government of Charles X. protected Meyerbeer as well as
Rossini. Robert le Diable was only played under the reign of Louis
Philippe, but the work had already been received under the
Restoration.
During the reign of Charles X. the fine royal theatres reached the
height of their splendor: the Francais and the Odeon were
installed in their present quarters; the Opera in the hall of the
Rue La Peletier, excellent as to acoustics and proportions; the
Italiens in the Salle Favart (where they remained from 1825 to
1838); the Opera Comique in the Salle Feydeau, until the month of
April, 1829, when it inaugurated the Salle Ventadour. Talma,
Mademoiselle Duchesnoir, Mademoiselle Mars, triumphed at the
Francais; Mademoiselle Georges, at the Odeon; Nourrit, Levasseur,
Madame Damoreau, Taglioni, at the Opera; Sontag, Pasta, Malibran,
and Rubini at the Italiens.
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