"Ladies and gentlemen, it
was not I that shot the arrow!" said Braham to his audience, when some
bungling occurred in the course of his performance of William Tell,
and the famous apple remained uninjured upon the head of the hero's
son. If derision was moved by this bungling, still more did the
singer's address and confession excite the mirth of the spectators. To
another singer, failure, or the dread of failure, was fraught with
more tragic consequence. For some sixteen years Adolphe Nourritt had
been the chief tenor of the Paris Opera House. He had "created" the
leading characters in "Robert," "Les Huguenots," "La Juive,"
"Gustave," and "Masaniello." He resigned his position precipitately
upon the advent of Duprez. The younger singer afflicted the elder with
a kind of panic. The news that Duprez was among his audience was
sufficient to paralyse his powers, to extinguish his voice. He left
France for Italy. His success was unquestionable, but he had lost
confidence in himself; a deep dejection settled upon him, his
apprehension of failure approached delirium.
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