We also used to have dramatic recitals which were excellent both for the
performers and the audiences as they gave works which were not in the
usual repertoire. In these recitals they gave Méhul's _Joseph_, which
had disappeared from the stage for a long time. The beautiful choruses
sung by the fresh voices of the pupils made such a success and the whole
work was so enthusiastically applauded that it was revived at the
Opéra-Comique and won back a success which it has never lost. We also
heard there Gluck's _Orphée_ long before that masterpiece was revived at
the Théâtre-Lyrique. Then there was Méhul's _Irato_, a curious and
charming work which the Opéra took up afterwards. And there, too, they
gave the last act of Rossini's _Otello_. The tempest in that act gave me
the idea of the one which rumbles through the second act of _Samson_.

When the hall was reconstructed, the stage was destroyed so that such
performances are impossible. But to make up for this, they installed a
concert organ, a necessary adjunct for musical performances.

Finally, in Auber's day and even in that of Ambroise Thomas, the
director was master. No one had dreamed of creating a committee, which,
under cover of the director's responsibility, would strangely diminish
his authority. The only benefit from the new system has been the end of
the incessant war which the musical critics waged on the director. But
that did no harm, either to the director or to the school, for the
latter kept on growing to such an extent that it ought to have been
enlarged long ago. The committee plan has won and the incident is
closed. One may only hope that steps will be taken to make possible an
increase in the number of pupils since so many candidates apply each
year and so few are chosen.

As everyone knows, we have been struck by a perfect mania for reforms,