Beschreibung:

MEYERBEER, Giacomo (1791-1864). Autograph letter signed to Luigi Cherubini, n.p. [Paris], n.d. Mardi matin , black ink, deeply regretting that he will be unable to attend the Conservatoire as Cherubini has suggested but hoping to see the latter on Saturday when he will explain what prevented him, 1 page, 8vo , 187 x 120mm., with integral autograph address leaf; and MEYERBEER, autograph letter signed to Madame Célérier, n.p. [Paris], n.d., black ink, explaining that as his rehearsal finished early he went to try a piano at Pleyel, 1 page, 8vo , 207 x 133mm. These two letters are both fine association pieces. Meyerbeer writes to Cherubini as director of the Ecole Royale de Musique. Cherubini was one of the dominant figures in French musical life for fifty years, serving all the governments of France from the ancien regime through to the restored Bourbon monarchy. He was appointed director of the reconstituted Conservatoire in 1822 and died in 1842, when he was accorded a state funeral. Beethoven viewed Cherubini as his greatest contemporary. Pleyel were the most renowned French firm of piano makers of their day. The company was founded in 1807 at Paris by Ignace Pleyel and by the 1830s they claimed to be making a thousand pianos a year. (2)