An Earnest Student

Paris was on fire with the Gluck–Piccinni rivalry, and every music lover seemed to have picked a side. Into that atmosphere walked an awkward young Belgian with huge ambition and almost no money: he was determined to get a real musical education, no matter what it took.

He worshipped Gluck and was desperate to hear *Iphigénie en Tauride*. A friend managed to slip him into the theatre for the final rehearsal. The music hit him like a revelation—beautiful, noble, overwhelming. He *had* to hear the public performance too. Problem: he couldn’t afford a ticket.

So he tried the most reckless plan imaginable: hide in a box and stay there until showtime. It didn’t last. When staff discovered him after the rehearsal, they hauled him out. He resisted, a commotion broke out, and Gluck—still in the building—came to see what was happening. Hearing that the young stranger simply couldn’t bear to miss the music, Gluck smiled, stopped the ejection, and handed him a ticket.

Gluck then took an interest in the eager student. That “kid in the box” was Étienne Nicolas Méhul. The two composers became friends, and Méhul later wrote twenty-five operas and many other works—never forgetting the kindness that helped launch his path.