At any rate, the chorus singers often undertake divided duties in this
respect, and accept engagements both at the cathedral and the
opera-house. And sometimes it has happened that the discharge of their
dual obligations has involved them in serious difficulties. Thus, some
years since, there is said to have been a Christmas spectacle in
preparation at the Opera House in Paris. The entertainment was of a
long and elaborate kind, and for its perfect production numberless
rehearsals, early and late, dress and undress, were imperatively
necessary. Now the chorus of the opera also represented the choir of
Notre Dame. It was a season of the year for which the Church has
appointed many celebrations. The singers were incessantly running to
and fro between the Opera House and Notre Dame. Often they had not a
moment to spare, and punctuality in attending their appointments was
scarcely possible, while the trouble of so frequently changing their
costumes was extremely irksome to them. On one occasion a dress
rehearsal at the theatre, which commenced at a very late hour, after
the conclusion of the ordinary performance of the evening, was so
protracted that the time for the early service at the cathedral was
rapidly approaching.
Pages:
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590