Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Simplified Genealogy of the Massenet Family
- Foreword
- Dedication
- Translator's Preface
- I Years of Apprenticeship and Roman Adventure
- II The Steps of Quai Conti
- III Notebooks and Sketches
- IV Sybil Sanderson—“The Unique”
- V Massenet's Students
- VI Summer Solitude
- VII The Last Years—Posthumia
- VIII Conclusion
- Massenet: Biographical Chronology
- Bibliography
- About the Author
- Translator's Notes
- About the Translator
- General Index
- Index of Massenet's Works Cited
- Index of Letters Cited
III - Notebooks and Sketches
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Simplified Genealogy of the Massenet Family
- Foreword
- Dedication
- Translator's Preface
- I Years of Apprenticeship and Roman Adventure
- II The Steps of Quai Conti
- III Notebooks and Sketches
- IV Sybil Sanderson—“The Unique”
- V Massenet's Students
- VI Summer Solitude
- VII The Last Years—Posthumia
- VIII Conclusion
- Massenet: Biographical Chronology
- Bibliography
- About the Author
- Translator's Notes
- About the Translator
- General Index
- Index of Massenet's Works Cited
- Index of Letters Cited
Summary
Massenet and his wife began to correspond daily in 1876. Because income was flowing into the family coffers, Ninon decided to take more frequent trips with her young daughter. Massenet's own journeys were associated with performances of Le Roi de Lahore. Although Ninon's letters have been lost, we are able to understand Massenet's relationship with his family through his letters, whether addressed to Ninon or to the “clever monkey,” as Massenet affectionately called his daughter Juliette.
At that time, Massenet identified each letter with a number instead of a date. We read how he missed his small family. Solitude made him uneasy (an understatement), and when he did not receive a daily letter, he protested.
I have not missed writing to you even once … I have not skipped even one day. Oh my Louise, with this letter, I send you a loving kiss.
(Massenet to Ninon, Letter 18 bis).He signed his letters with imaginative nicknames—“Brame” or “Miton”—depending upon his mood. Sometimes, he drew little pictures at the end of his letters, or attempted caricatures, even though he was unskilled with the pencil!
During the Paris rehearsals of Le Roi de Lahore,he complained bitterly.
If your correspondence was as organized and regular as mine, your absence, your neglect, would be easier to tolerate.
(Massenet to Ninon, end September or beginning October, 1876).Massenet always found it difficult to be away from his wife for very long.
In 1877, after the first productions of Le Roi de Lahore,Ricordi was inspired by Gustave Flaubert's Les Trois Contesand suggested Hérodiadeas the composer's next subject.Georges Hartmann, using the pseudonym Henri Grémont, once again collaborated with two other librettists, Angelo Zanardini and Paul Milliet.
Massenet's close relationship with Ricordi was stimulating. Here is a letter showing how they cared about food as well as music.
Long live Gorgonzola!! How did you manage to find a such a big piece? I bow down before it!!!!!! Hartmann managed to con me out of a small bite by shedding a few tears.
(Massenet to Giulio Ricordi, October 1877).- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Massenet and His LettersA New Biography, pp. 53 - 94Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2015