I was one of the regular pianists at Rossini's. The others were Stanzieri, a charming young man of whom Rossini was very fond and who lived but a short time, and Diemer, who was also young but already a great artist. One or the other of us would often play at the evening entertainments the slight pieces for the piano which the Master used to write to take up his time. I was only too willing to accompany the singers, when Rossini did not do so himself. He accompanied them admirably for he played the piano to perfection. [Illustration: Mme. Patti] Unfortunately I was not there the evening that Patti sang for Rossini the first time. We know that after she had sung the aria from _Le Barbier_, he said to her, after the usual compliments, "Who wrote that aria you just sang?" I saw him three days afterwards and he hadn't cooled off even then. "I am fully aware," he said, "that arias should be embellished. That's what they are for. But not to leave a note of them even in the recitatives! That is too much!" In his irritation he complained that the sopranos persisted in singing this aria which was written for a contralto and did not sing what had been written for the sopranos at all. On the other hand the diva was irritated as well. She thought the matter over and realized that it would be serious to have Rossini for an enemy. So some days later she went to ask his advice. It was well for her that she took it, for her talent, though brilliant and fascinating, was not as yet fully formed. Two months after this incident, Patti sang the arias from _La Gaza Ladra_ and _Semiramide_, with the master as her accompanist. And she combined with her brilliancy the absolute correctness which she always showed afterwards. Much has been written about the premature interruption of Rossini's career after the appearance of _Guillaume Tell_. It has been compared with Racine's life after _Phedre_. The failure of _Phedre_ was brutal and cruel, which was added to by the scandalous success of the _Phedre_ of an unworthy rival. Racine's friends, the Port Royalists, did not hesitate to make the most of the opportunity. "You've lost your soul," they told him. "And now you haven't even success." But later, when he took up his pen again, he gave us two masterpieces in _Esther_ and _Athalie_. Rossini was accustomed to success and it was hard for him to run into a half-hearted success when he knew he had surpassed himself. This was doubtless due to the extravagant phraseology of Hippolyte Bis, one of the librettists. But _Guillaume Tell_ had its admirers from the start. I heard it spoken of constantly in my childhood. If the work did not appear on the bills of the Opera, it furnished the amateurs with choice bits.