Marie Antoinette, whom Mdme. du Barry and her clique looked on as
Piccini's enemy, astonished both cabals by appointing Piccini her
singing-master--an unprofitable honour, for he received no pay, and
was obliged to give costly copies of his compositions to the royal
family. He might have quoted from the Latin poet in regard to this
favour from Marie Antoinette, whose faction in music, among other
names, was known as the Greek party, "_Timeo Danaos et dona
ferentes_."[F] Beaumarchais, the brilliant author of "Figaro," had
found the same inconvenience when acting as court teacher to the
daughters of Louis XV. The French kings were parsimonious except when
lavishing money on their vices.
The action of the dauphiness, however, paved the way for a
reconciliation between Piccini and Gluck. Berton, the manager of the
opera, gave a luxurious banquet, and the musicians, side by side,
pledged each other in libations of champagne. Gluck got confidential
in his cups. "These French," he said, "are good enough people, but
they make me laugh. They want us to write songs for them, and they
can't sing." In fact, the quarrel was not between the musicians but
their adherents. In his own heart Piccini knew his inferiority to
Gluck.
De Vismes, Berton's successor, proposed that both should write operas
on the same subject, "Iphigenia in Tauris," and gave him a libretto.
"The French public will have for the first time," he said, "the
pleasure of hearing two operas on the same theme, with the same
incidents, the same characters, but composed by two great masters of
totally different schools."
"But," objected the alarmed Italian, "if Gluck's opera is played
first, the public will be so delighted that they will not listen to
mine."
"To avoid that catastrophe," said the director, "we will play yours
first."
"But Gluck will not permit it."
"I give you my word of honour," said De Vismes, "that your opera shall
be put in rehearsal and brought out as soon as it is finished."
Before Piccini had finished his opera, he heard that his rival was
back from Germany with his "Iphigenia" completed, and that it was in
rehearsal. The director excused himself on the plea of its being a
royal command. Gluck's work was his masterpiece, and produced an
unparalleled sensation among the Parisians. Even his enemies were
silenced, and La Harpe said it was the _chef-d'oeuvre_ of the world.
Piccini's work, when produced, was admired, but it stood no chance
with the profound, serious, and wonderfully dramatic composition of
his rival.
On the night of the first performance Mdlle. Laguerre, to whom Piccini
had trusted the rôle of Iphigenia, could not stand straight from
intoxication. "This is not 'Iphigenia in Tauris,'" said the witty
Sophie Arnould, "but 'Iphigenia in champagne.'" She compensated
afterwards, though, by singing the part with exquisite effect.
While the Gluck-Piccini battle was at its height, an amateur who was
disgusted with the contest returned to the country and sang the
praises of the birds and their gratuitous performances in the
following epigram:--
"La n'est point d'art, d'ennui scientifique;
Piccini, Gluck, n'ont point noté les airs.
Nature seule en dicta la musique,
Et Marmontel n'en a pas fait les vers."
The sentiment of this was probably applauded by the many who were
wearied of the bitter recriminations, which degraded the art which
they professed to serve.
During the period when Gluck and Piccini were composing for the French
opera, its affairs nourished liberally under the sway of De Vismes.
Gluck, Piccini, and Rameau wrote serious operas, while Piccini,
Sacchini, Anfossi, and Paisiello composed comic operas. The ballet
flourished with unsurpassed splendour, and on the whole it may be said
that never has the opera presented more magnificence at Paris than
during the time France was on the eve of the Reign of Terror. The gay
capital was thronged with great singers, the traditions of whose
artistic ability compare favourably with those of a more recent
period.
The witty and beautiful Sophie Arnould, who had a train of princes at
her feet, was the principal exponent of Gluck's heroines, while Mdlle.
Laguerre was the mainstay of the Piccinists. The rival factions made
the names of these charming and capricious women their war-cries not
less than those of the composers. The public bowed and cringed before
these idols of the stage. Gaetan Vestris, the first of the family,
known as the "_Dieu de la Danse_" and who held that there were only
three great men in Europe, Frederick the Great of Prussia, Voltaire,
and himself, dared to dictate even to Gluck. "Write me the music of a
chaconne, Monsieur Gluck," said the god of dancing.
"A chaconne!" said the enraged composer. "Do you think the Greeks,
whose manners we are endeavouring to depict, knew what a chaconne
was?"
"Did they not?" replied Vestris, astonished at this news, and in a
tone of compassion continued, "then they are much to be pitied."
Vestris did not obtain his ballet music from the obdurate German; but,
when Piccini's rival "_Iphigénie en Tauride_" was produced, such
beautiful dance measures were furnished by the Italian composer as
gave Vestris the opportunity for one of his greatest triumphs.