I have omitted to say that at Paris I tried to enter the classes for
singing. My voice was apparently liked, but I was refused admission upon
the basis that I was too good a musician to waste my time in becoming an
inferior singer. Goodness gracious! Where is musicianship needed more
than in the case of the singer? This amused me, and I resolved to bide
my time. I played in opera orchestras whenever I had a chance, and thus
became acquainted with the famous roles. One eye was on the music and
the other was on the stage. During the rests I dreamt of the time when I
might become a singer like those over the footlights.
Where there is a will there is usually a way. I taught solfeggio as well
as French horn in the Lyons Conservatory. I devised all sorts of
"home-made" exercises to improve my voice as I thought best. Some may
have done me good, others probably were injurious. I listened to singers
and tried to get points from them. Gradually I was unconsciously paving
the way for the great opportunity of my life. It came in the form of an
experienced teacher, Dauphin, who had been a basso for ten years at the
leading theatre of Belgium, fourteen years in London, and later director
at Geneva and Lyons. He also received the appointment of Professor at
the Lyons Conservatory.