t is a real artist and he never for a moment thought of
keeping the Theatre du Jorat for his own exclusive use. He dreamt of
giving Gluck's works in their original form, for they are always altered
and changed according to the fancies or incompetency of the performers
or directors. They formed a large and influential committee and a
substantial guarantee fund was subscribed. Then they gave a brilliant
banquet at which the Princess of Brancovan was present. And Paderewski,
one of the most enthusiastic promotors of the enterprise, delivered an
eloquent address. No one should be surprised at either his zeal or his
eloquence. Paderewski is not only a pianist; he is a man of great
intellect as well,--a great artist who permits himself the luxury of
playing the piano marvellously.

As he knew that I had spent several years in studying Gluck's works
under the microscope, so to speak, Gustave Doret did me the honor to ask
my advice. His choice for the opening work was _Orphee_, which requires
only three principals, Orpheus, Eurydice, and Love. It has become the
custom to add a fourth, a Happy Spirit, but this spirit is one of
Carvalho's inventions and has no reason for existence.

There are, however, two _Orphee_. The first is _Orfeo_ which was written
in Italian, on Calzabigi's text, and was first presented at Venice in
1761. The role of Orpheus in this score was written for a contralto and
was designed for the eunuch Quadagni. The Venetian engravers of that day
were either incompetent or, perhaps, there were none, for the scores of
Gluck's _Alceste_ in Italian and Haydn's _Seasons_ were printed from
type. However that may be the score of _Orfeo_ was engraved in Paris.
The composer Philidor corrected the proofs. He little thought that
_Orfeo_ would ever get so far as Paris, so he appropriated the romanza
in the first act and introduced it with but slight modifications into
his opera-comique _Le Sorcier_. Later on Marie Antoinette called Gluck
to Paris and thus afforded him the opportunity for the complete
development of his genius. After he had written _Iphigenie en Aulide_,
performed in 1774, especially for the Opera, he had the idea of adapting
_Orfeo_ for the French stage. To tell the truth he must have thought of
it before, for _Orphee_ appeared at the Opera only three months after
_Iphigenie_ and it had been entirely rewritten in collaboration with
Moline. The contralto part had been changed to tenor and so the
principal