CHAUSSON Ernest (1855 - 1899) Lot n° 34

L.A.S., Paris Saturday [June 1895], to a friend [Octave MAUS]; 2 pages small in-4. About his opera Le Roi Arthus. He communicates to him an "unexpected" news to be inserted in L'Art moderne. "This morning, at breakfast, when I least expected it, ALBENIZ, whom I did not know 24 hours ago, asked me for King Arthus for Barcelona. And I accepted. It is for next April. He also wants d'INDY's drama [Fervaal], but Vincent doesn't know what to do because of Stoumon [director of La Monnaie in Brussels, who was to stage both operas]. He temporizes. So I will start in Catalan (not in Spanish) far from my friends in Brussels. I sincerely regret them very much. But I hope that this will not prevent me from reappearing at the Monnaie. I will still be a theatrical semi-virgin. And it is very fashionable now [allusion to the novel Les Demi-Vierges by Marcel Prévost]"...