Chapter II: 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 OPERA 93

XII THE THEATERS IN ITALY 103

XIII THE CONSERVATOIRE AND THE INSTITUTE 114

XIV A FIRST PERFORMANCE AT BRUSSELS 123

XV THE ABBE PREVOST AT THE OPERA-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 _Cherubin_ TO _Therese_ 242

XXV SPEAKING OF 1793 254

XXVI FROM _Ariane_ TO _Don Quichotte_ 267

XXVII A SOIREE 278

XXVIII DEAR EMOTIONS 288

XXIX THOUGHTS AFTER DEATH 302

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Master, Jules Massenet _Frontispiece_

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Massenet at Egreville 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

Dulcinee (_Don Quichotte_) 282

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

MY RECOLLECTIONS