should need personal introductions to various singers in order to
ensure the production of one of my other compositions.

When Meyerbeer at last arrived in Paris, therefore, I was
delighted. He was not in the least astonished at the lack of
success of his letters of introduction; on the contrary, he made
use of this opportunity to impress upon me how difficult it was
to get on in Paris, and how necessary it was for me to look out
for less pretentious work. With this object he introduced me to
Maurice Schlesinger, and leaving me at the mercy of that
monstrous person, went back to Germany.

At first Schlesinger did not know what to do with me; the
acquaintances I made through him (of whom the chief was the
violinist Panofka) led to nothing, and I therefore returned to my
advisory board at home, through whose influence I had recently
received an order to compose the music to the Two Grenadiers, by
Heine, translated by a Parisian professor. I wrote this song for
baritone, and was very pleased with the result; on Ander's advice
I now tried to find singers for my new compositions. Mme. Pauline
Viardot, on whom I first called, went through my songs with me.
She was very amiable, and praised them, but did not see why SHE
should sing them. I went through the same experience with a Mme.
Widmann, a grand contralto, who sang my Dors, mon enfant with
great feeling; all the same she had no further use for my
composition. A certain M. Dupont, third tenor at the grand opera,
tried my setting of the Ronsard poem, but declared that the
language in which it was written was no longer palatable to the
Paris public. M. Geraldy, a favourite concert singer and teacher,
who allowed me to call and see him frequently, told me that the