Albert Dresden Vandam

An Englishman in Paris Albert Dresden Vandam

Book Excerpt: ...brilliant talker -- Auber's gratitude to the artists who interpreted his work, but different from Meyerbeer's -- The reason why, according to Auber -- Jealousy or humility -- Auber and the younger Coquelin -- "The verdict on all things in this world may be summed up in the one phrase, 'It's an injustice'" -- Félicien David -- The man -- The beginnings of his career -- His terrible poverty -- He joins the Saint-Simoniens, and goes with some of them to the East -- Their reception at Constantinople -- M. Scribe and the libretto of "L'Africaine" -- David in Egypt at the court of Mehemet-Ali -- David's description of him -- Mehemet's way of testing the educational progress of his sons -- Woe to the fat kine -- Mehemet-Ali suggests a new mode of teaching music to the inmates of the harem -- Félicien David's further wanderings in Egypt -- Their effect upon his musical genius -- His return to France -- He tells the story of the first performance of "Le Désert" -- An ambulant box-office -- His suc...