16
PARTISAN REVIEW
Muette de Portiet'.
It has two claims to fame : once
it
started or aided a revol–
ution in, I think , Brussels; and it is the only opera in which the prima donna
is a deaf mute . Lionel wore an expression of ancient resignation , saying
nothing; but he accepted with alacrity the proposal that we should leave at
the end of the second Act . There was often this grim gaiety in him, as also
when he dealt with the cabdrivers of Palermo , who refused to let one see the
meter (they hung their caps over it) and lamented their unique poveny,
their hordes of starving children . He was generous , patient and wise. I wish
there were more such lovely fellows.
Frank Kermode
