She
competed with a selection from _Misanthrope_, and Mlle. Jouassin gave
the other part of the dialogue. Mlle. Jouassin's technique was the
better, but Madeleine Brohan was so wonderful in beauty and voice that
she carried off the prize. The award made a great uproar. To-day, in
such a case, the prize would be divided. Mlle. Jouassin won her prize
the following year. After leaving school, she accepted and held for a
long time an important place at the Comedie-Francaise.
Benoist was a very ordinary organist, but an admirable teacher. A
veritable galaxy of talent came from his class. He had little to say,
but as his taste was refined and his judgment sure, nothing he said
lacked weight or authority. He collaborated in several ballets for the
Opera and that gave him a good deal of work to do. It sounds incredible,
but he used to bring his "work" to class and scribble away on his
orchestration while his pupils played the organ. This did not prevent
his listening and looking after them. He would leave his work and make
appropriate comments as though he had no other thought.
In addition to his ballets, Benoist did other little odd jobs for the
Opera. As a result one day, without thinking, he gave me the key to a
deep secret.
Pages:
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26