Saturday, 16 February 1884
A splendid evening at the Italiens. I go with Mme Gavini, her Denis, Princess Jeanne and her Villeneuve, then Saint-Amand and Moraes. Mme Gavini finds me pretty, ravishingly dressed (black velvet bodice, classic décolleté), well coiffed —# Samedi 16 février 1884
[Seven pages torn out]
— and marble shoulders "that slope beautifully, shoulders where one sees the breeding."
[Sept pages arrachées]
That alone — Adeline's opinion is always the echo of the stupid majority. In any case that is not what made the evening splendid — it was because we had Gayarré,1 the incomparable Spanish tenor. I had heard him at Monaco two years ago. He sings even better now. He receives an ovation he will remember.
Rien que ça, l'opinion d'Adeline c'est l'écho de la stupide majorité toujours. Enfin ce n'est pas encore pour cela que la soirée a été splendide, c'est parce que nous avons Gayarré l'incomparable ténor espagnol. Je l'avais entendu à Monaco il y a deux ans. Il chante encore mieux. On lui fait une ovation dont il se souviendra.
The most conventional men and the most tightly-laced women were in raptures — but then, it is a miraculous voice.
Les gilets en cœur et les femmes les plus serrées étaient dans l'enthousiasme, c'est qu'aussi, c'est une voix miraculeuse.
Notes
Julián Gayarre (1844–1890): celebrated Navarrese tenor, renowned for the beauty and expressiveness of his voice, idolised across Europe. ↩