IN THE PRESENCE OF VERDI

Confident in this—that is, that a parent’s blind enthusiasm had said nothing about me that was not within the bounds of truth—one evening they accompanied me to the Hotel della Vittoria, where Verdi was staying at the time.

It was a reception evening, so we found the illustrious maestro amid a select company of writers, musicians, nobility, and journalists. He received Ungaro and il Sole with exquisite courtesy, and they introduced the young musician to him. I still remember how humble and trembling I appeared in the midst of that noble assembly. But Verdi’s kind smile encouraged me, and confidence returned to my heart, so that I answered all his questions with frankness and courage.

He then went to a small table, wrote sixteen bars, and, handing me the sheet, instructed me to arrange them for a small orchestra.

“How many and which instruments?” I asked.
“Include flutes, violins, trumpets, oboes, hunting horns—in short, as you wish,” he replied.

I set to work on the task, and in the meantime, the assembled company began to wish that I might soon become a new star in the musical firmament.