THE WIRELESS MILITARY BAND, conducted by B. WALTON O'DONNELL
SOPHIE ROWLANDS (Soprano)
ASHMOOR BURCH (Baritone)
FEW French composers of last century attained speedier or more consistent success than
Massenet. Ho was a brilliant student, and, of his score or more of Operas the greater part enjoyed immense popularity. At the age of thirty-four he received the decoration of the Legion of Honour, and two years later he became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts-the youngest member ever elected. Not many of his operas have survived in England, but Manon was long a favourite at Covent Garden.
His Neapolitan Scenes probably include some reminiscences of his period in Italy, to which country he. was sent to study when he won the ' Prix de Rome ' in 1863.