worse reception. Later on, as we know, _Carmen_ was received in the
same way.

I was, indeed, able to do something beside work for the stage, and it
was just that which closed the stage to me. I was a writer of
symphonies, an organist and a pianist, so how could I be capable of
writing an opera! The qualities which go to make a pianist were in a
particularly bad light in the greenroom. Bizet played the piano
admirably, but he never dared to play in public for fear of making his
position worse.

I suggested to Carvalho that I write a _Macbeth_ for Madame Viardot.
Naturally enough he preferred to put on Verdi's _Macbeth_. It was an
utter failure and cost him thirty thousand francs.

They tried to interest a certain princess, a patron of the arts, in my
behalf. "What," she replied, "isn't he satisfied with his position? He
plays the organ at the Madeleine and the piano at my house. Isn't that
enough for him?"

But that wasn't enough for me, and to overcome the obstacles, I caused a
scandal. At the age of twenty-eight I competed for the _Prix de Rome_!
They did not give it to me on the ground that I didn't need it, but the
day after the award, Auber, who was very fond of me, asked Carvalho for
a libretto for me. Carvalho gave me _Le Timbre d'Argent_, which he
didn't know what to do with as several musicians had refused to touch
it. There were good reasons for this, for, despite an excellent
foundation for the music, the libretto had serious faults. I demanded
that Barbier and Carré, the authors, should make important changes,
which they did at once. Then, I retired to the heights of Louveciennes