Fetis tells us that the arrival of Viotti in Paris produced a sensation
difficult to describe. No performer had yet been heard who had attained
so high a degree of perfection, no artist had possessed so fine a tone,
such sustained elegance, such fire, and so varied a style. The fancy
which was developed in his concertos increased the delight he produced
in the minds of his auditory. His compositions for the violin were
as superior to those which had previously been heard as his execution
surpassed that of all his predecessors and contemporaries. Giornowick's
style was full of grace and suave elegance; Viotti was characterized
by a remarkable beauty, breadth, and dignity. Lavish attentions were
bestowed on him from the court circle. Marie Antoinette, who was an
ardent lover and most judicious patron of music, sent him her commands
to play at Versailles. The haughty artistic pride of Viotti was signally
displayed at one of these concerts before royalty. A large number of
eminent musicians had been engaged for the occasion, and the audience
was a most brilliant one. Viotti had just begun a concerto of his own
composition, when the arrogant Comte d'Artois made a great bustle in
the room, and interrupted the music by his loud whispers and utter
indifference to the comfort of any one but himself. Viotti's dark eyes
flashed fire as he stared sternly at this rude scion of the blood royal.
At last, unable to restrain his indignation, he deliberately placed his
violin in the case, gathered up his music from the stand, and withdrew
from the concert-room without ceremony, leaving the concert, her
Majesty, and his Royal Highness to the reproaches of the audience.
This scene is an exact parallel of one which occurred at the house
of Cardinal Ottoboni, when Corelli resented in similar fashion the
impertinence of some of his auditors.
Everywhere in artistic and aristocratic circles at the French capital
Viotti's presence was eagerly sought. Private concerts were so much the
vogue in Paris that musicians of high rank found more profit in these
than in such as were given to the miscellaneous public. A delightful
artistic rendezvous was the hôtel of the Comte de Balck, an enthusiastic
patron and friend of musicians. Here Viotti's friend, Garat, whose voice
had so great a range as to cover both the tenor and barytone registers,
was wont to sing; and here young Orfila, the brilliant chemist,
displayed his magnificent tenor voice in such a manner as to attract the
most tempting offers from managers that he should desert the laboratory
for the stage. But the young Portuguese was fascinated with science,
and was already far advanced in the career which made him in his day
the greatest of all authorities on toxicological chemistry. The most
brilliant and gifted men and women of Paris haunted these reunions,
and Viotti always appeared at his best amid such surroundings.
Another favorite resort of his was the house of Mme. Montegerault at
Montmorency, a lady who was a brilliant pianist. Sometimes she would
seat herself at her instrument and begin an improvisation, and Viotti,
seizing his violin, would join in the performance, and in a series of
extemporaneous passages display his great powers to the delight of all
present.
He evinced the greatest distaste for solo playing at public concerts,
and, aside from charity performances, only consented once to such an
exhibition of his talents. A singular concert was arranged to take place
on the fifth story of a house in Paris, the apartment being occupied
by a friend of Viotti, who was also a member of the Government. "I will
play," he said, on being urged, "but only on one condition, and that
is, that the audience shall come up here to us--we have long enough
descended to them; but times are changed, and now we may compel them to
rise to our level"; or something to that effect. It took place in due
course, and was a very brilliant concert indeed. The only ornament was a
bust of Jean Jacques Rousseau. A large number of distinguished artists,
both instrumental and vocal, were present, and a most aristocratic
audience. A good deal of Boccherini's music was performed that evening,
and though many of the titled personages had mounted to the fifth floor
for the first time in their lives, so complete was the success of the
concert that not one descended without regret, and all were warm in
their praise of the performances of the distinguished violinist.
What the cause of Viotti's sudden departure from Paris in 1790 was,
it is difficult to tell. Perhaps he had offended the court by the
independence of his bearing; perhaps he had expressed his political
opinions too bluntly, for he was strongly democratic in his views;
perhaps he foresaw the terrible storm which was gathering and was soon
to break in a wrack of ruin, chaos, and blood. Whatever the cause, our
violinist vanished from Paris with hardly a word of farewell to his most
intimate friends, and appeared in London at Salomon's concerts with the
same success which had signalized his Parisian _début_. Every one
was delighted with the originality and power of his playing, and the
exquisite taste that modified the robustness and passion which entered
into the substance of his musical conceptions.
Viotti was one of the artistic celebrities of London for several years,
but his eccentric and resolute nature did not fail to involve him in
several difficulties with powerful personages. He became connected with
the management of the King's Theatre, and led the music for two years
with signal ability. But he suddenly received an order from the
British Government to leave England without delay. His sharp tongue and
outspoken language were never consistent with courtly subserviency. We
can fancy our musician shrugging his shoulders with disdain on receiving
his order of banishment, for he was too much of a cosmopolite to be
disturbed by change of country. He took up his residence at Schönfeld,
Holland, in a beautiful and splendid villa, and produced there several
of his most celebrated compositions, as well as a series of studies of
the violin school.