Seeing Sappho in Paris: Operatic and Choreographic Adaptations of Sapphic Lives and Myths Author(S): Samuel N

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Seeing Sappho in Paris: Operatic and Choreographic Adaptations of Sapphic Lives and Myths Author(s): Samuel N. Dorf Source: Music in Art, Vol. 34, No. 1/2, Music, Body, and Stage: The Iconography of Music Theater and Opera (Spring–Fall 2009), pp. 291-310 Published by: Research Center for Music Iconography, The Graduate Center, City University of New York Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41818596 . Accessed: 16/03/2014 12:14

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Seeing Sappho in Paris: Operatic and Choreographic Adaptations of Sapphic Lives and Myths

Samuel N. Dorf

NorthwesternUniversity, Evanston

àyi õr)x¿Au ôïa 'ioi Àéye (poovcfëçça0¿ yiv£ö) yes!radiant lyre speak to me becomea voice Sappho,fragment 118.1 Like shards ofbroken pottery, the lifeand works ofSappho (the poet fromLesbos) remainincomplete, scrambled,lost, and yetincredibly alluring. Each writer,singer, actor, composer, reader who encountersthe fragmentedremains of the work and lifeof the historicalSappho hears somethingdifferent from her lyre. Partof the reason forthis is thefractured nature of her work. Today, herlyrical poems existas brokenpieces ofreflective glass: sharp,penetrating, dangerous splintersof the greatworks in which we gaze into,hoping to findthe whole, but instead we only glimpse a fracturedreflection of ourselves. Saved on deteriorating scraps ofpapyrus, or quoted in fragmentsas examples ofstunning lyric poetry by Cicero,Plato, and Longi- nus, traces of Sappho's work exist today as ruins.The mirroringeffect of these fragmentshas been feltin almost every generationin the Westernworld since her death. With each encounter,subjects listen to the endless echo ofher radiantlyre resonating in theepoch in which theylive and adapt hersongs fortheir own timebased upon theirown fantasiesof hertime. This paper looks at threeParisian fantasies of Sappho: Charles Gounod's revisionof his firstopera, Sapho (1851,rev. 1884), Charles Cuvillier's operettaSappho (1912), and the Sapphic music and dramaticactivities held in thegarden ofNatalie CliffordBarney (ca. 1900). For each ofthese productions, musical scores (when theyexist) provide scant informationas to how the authorsand performersimagined the mythsand lives ofSappho; iconographiesources, however, open doors to new readings,illustrating how thesepieces appro- priatedpast Sapphic fictionsto createnuanced and oftensatirical productions. Here, I contendthat visual cultureplayed a privilegedrole in the receptionof these very differentmusical representationsof Sappho historiesand fantasies. ^FaiïOQ. In her landmarkstudy of Sappho's receptionin France,Joan DeJean writes: Sapphois a figmentof the modern imagination. During her recovery by early modern scholars, she was completelya Frenchfantasy. And throughoutthe entire span ofher modern existence, she has remainedlargely a projectionof the French imagination.2 These fantasies,however, take rootin ancientsources. The mythof Sappho's love affairwith Phaon and her leap fromthe Leucadian rock firstappeared in the thirdcentury BC. The great leap, the "kill-or-cure remedyfor hopeless passion" derivesfrom tales ofprimitive ritual sacrifices to Apollo, whichStrabo record- ed in his Geography(18-23 AD) cementingthe legend to Sappho's writingsfor consumption by generations ofwriters. Sappho's connectionto hermale loverPhaon mostlikely stem from a confusionin herpoetry since "Phaon" is anothername forAphrodite's beloved, Adonis. Since Sappho wrotepoems in thevoice ofAphro-

dite lamentingthe loss of Adonis who perished while huntingwild boars, later interpretersmust have misunderstoodand assumed she was speaking in her own voice not thatof the Goddess of Love. For her Greek descendents,like Plato and Strabo,Sappho was a poetic heroineand a greatmuse.3 Otherearly perceptions of Sappho thatcirculated in thenineteenth century are importantto mentionhere as well; while her life (mythologies)and works received praise at home in ancient Greece, theysuffered condemnationin othercontexts. The Romans in particularvilified and chastisedSappho forthe sensuality and the open homoeroticismof her poetry."For the Roman writersthen Sappho was, at best,a poet oflove; worse, a nymphomaniac;and, worst of all a lover of women/'4 Sapho en France: Reincarnations of Sappho, 1600-1860. Her two legacies (thepoetess/ heroine and thenymphomaniac/ sensualist) wind theirway throughFrench history and culture.When Ovid was in vogue in thelate seventeenthcentury, French writers entertained a Roman view ofSappho as a negative,sensual, evil woman. EarlyFrench Hellenists, however, tried to rescueSappho, representingher as "the original voice offemale passion/'5 This dualism continuedthroughout the eighteenth century with one group ofart- ists firmlydedicated to preservingthe idea of a pure Sapphic heroine (a Hellenisticreading), and another movementrailing against her (the Orientalist reading). Surprisingly, the Enlightenment followed one Sapphic path, with littleto no speculation on Sappho's female lovers. For the generationof the Marquis de Sade, Sappho was only interestedin men.6 In theearly nineteenth century, Sappho appeared as heroinein post-revolutionaryart and as a dangerous " intellectual"in Napoleonic heroicfiction. At the same timeshe began to develop a followingin women's circles. A great number of portraitsduring this period depict society ladies holding Sappho's lyre. In addition,several representationsof Sappho as a heroicwoman began to appear in the theatre.7 EarlierFrench operas based on the lifeand mythsof Sappho include Vernardde Jochère'sSapho , opera en troisactes (1772); Emphis and Cournol's Sapho (1818); Antoine Reicha's 1822 reworkingof Emphis and Cournol's Sapho,as well as Jean-Paul-EdigeMartini's Sapho premiered in 1795 to a librettoby Constance de Salm (knownas C.M. Pipeletde Leuryand lateras thePrincess von Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck).8Notable early Sappho operas outside the Frenchtradition include Niccolò Piccinni'sPhaon (1778), and Giovanni Simone Mayr's Saffo, ossia I ritid'Apollo Leucadio (1794), as well as GiovanniPacini's Saffo(1840). Gounod's 1851 opera Sapho was not the firstFrench opera to have a strongfemale heroine,nor the firstto make that heroine Sappho. However, Gounod's succèsd'estime overshadowed all earlier attemptsat operatic portrayalsof Sappho, receivingmoderate praise and revivals to this day. Withthe help ofhis librettist,Émile Augier,Charles Gounod presentsone ofthe favorite mid-nineteenth- centurymyths in the 1884 revisionsof his firstopera from1851 on the historicalSappho: her love forthe young and handsome Phaon, and her sacrificeand faithfulleap fromthe cliffs. The original1851 opera situatesthe chaste Sapho as heroineagainst the debauched courtesanGlycère (a new addition to the storyadded by Augier). While Sapho praises virtueand fidelityin her winningode in the song contestof act I, Glycèreuses trickeryand deceit in act II to get Pythéas to reveal the plans for Phaon' s secretcoup to unseat the tyrantPittacus. In Glycèreand Sapho' s followingduet in act II, Glycère aggressivelyconfronts Sapho, plainlystating that she will tellPittacus about thecoup and how he will then killPhaon ifshe remainswith him. Sapho remainsresolute in her defianceof Glycère, proclaiming "Jamais! Jamais!Non! Non!" however,she finallysuccumbs. In orderto save the attemptedcoup, she resignsherself to let Phaon believe she no longer loves him so he can run offwith Glycère.She renounces her love for Phaon, in an attemptto save his life,and sings a finalaria beforeleaping fromthe cliffs.Gounod's Sapho is dutifuland courageous, a patriotand revolutionary:qualities honored in Frenchwomen ofthe nineteenth- century.Her resolve and heroismare admirable,and heractions befit a revolutionary.9She prefersto accept death and her lover's scorn ratherthan to jeopardize the rebellionof her comrades. My interestlies however in the 1884 version of the work: the fruitof furthercollaboration between Augier and Gounod. Taking up the role of Sapho originallycreated by Pauline Viardot in 1851, Gabrielle Krauss earned praise forher role as thetitle character in 1884.Reviewers of the opera in itsfour-act form with a revised and expanded librettoand additional music observed that the successes of the 1851 version's elementsretained in the 1884 productionwere limitedto Glycèreand Pythéas's duet and Sapho's leap.10

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1. AdrienMarie, Sapho, act IV (1884)with Mile. Krauss. Lithograph, 32.5 x 23 cm.Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra,Paris. - 2. JosefHoffman, sketch for Wagner's Die Walküre,act III, scene1, withBrünnhilde and Valkyries.- 3. Platefrom thescene where seduces LesPremières Illustrées, Notes et vol.3 between Saphoshowing Glycère Pythéas, Croquis," (1883-84), pages100 and 101. - 4. GustaveMoreau, "Mlle. Richard as Glycère,a Courtesanin Sapho (1884).Private collection - 5. GustaveMoreau, "Phaon", costume design for Sapho (1884). Private collection.

The new versionof the opera not onlyretained suggestive duets ofthe courtesan (Glycère) and therebel (Pythéas),but also expandedtheir material placing it as theheart of the second act. Moreover, Glycère dominates thisact; Augier greatly expands herrole with added arias and dramaticrecitatives highlighting the courtesan's importancein thefate of all characters.One reviewergoes on to equate thisnew productionnot only to the

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GrandOpera tradition,but identifies Wagnerian influences as well. Discussingthe enlarged final act he writes: "A good deal ofWagnerian breadth and grandeurdistinguished this final act. The figureof the white-robed poetess,relieved against the somber background, might have passed forthat of a doomed Walkyriedeprived of her armour/'11A lithographof thisscene depictingthe arrangementof jagged rocks and treesvisible in JosefHoffmann's original sketches for Die Walküre,act III [figs.1 & 2]. Wagnerianallusions, while generally in vogue in the 1880s,nonetheless indicate a change in receptionof Sappho: thatthe profileof thishistoric figurecould potentiallyfind congruencewith the epic breadth,decadent myth-makingassociated with Wagnerianopera.12 In addition,new costumes,sets, and music were createdto address the new vogue for exotic,and Orientalistfantasies of Sappho. Gounod's updated music includeslarge sections of the original production kept without changes as well as new material,written on separate foliosand insertedinto the originalorchestral score.13 An examination ofsome ofthe editions to the 1884 version highlights Gounoďs awarenessof the changing musical and dramatic tastes.In thesecond act,Glycère' s entrancedevelops froma simplerecitative in the1851 production to a grand exoticflourish in 1884 with harp,triangle, cymbals, and major seventhchords resolvingby tritone[ex. 1]. The eroticelements are furtherelaborated in thisversion as well. The followingduet between Glycère and Pythéas afterher exoticentrance evokes an eroticismthat is merelyhinted at in the 1851 version. Py- théas,quite drunk,makes passes at Glycèrewho responds by pouringhim morewine while coaxing secrets fromhim. With each new cup ofwine poured,the courtesan sings anotherline ofseduction, which the drunk and, presumablyaroused, Pythéasreplies to in patterexcitement. Glycère:Il m'auraitplu de vous voircette audace ! Pythéas:Je lui plairaipar cette audace ! Glycère:Elle vous eûtrendu beau toutà fait! Pythéas:Je semblerais beau toutà fait!14 [see example in appendix] Theseorientalist elements were highlighted not only in thescore, but also in thestage design and costuming forthe 1884 version of Gounod's opera. A printin Les PremièresIllustrées from the firstperformance of the new versiondepicts the scene mentionedabove whereGlycère seduces Pythéas[fig. 3]. An unusuallydecadent costumesketch for Glycère has survivedby Gustave Moreau foran unstagedproduction depicting a courtesan who perhaps shopped at thesame clothingstore as pagan Thaïs, or Salome. The costumefor Phaon displays a similar decadent tendency,absent fromthe originalconceptions of the characters[figs. 4 & 5]. Phaon's gossamercape, long femininefingers and hair,flowing cloak and pleated and ruffledblouse sharplycontrast therevolutionary image of the 1851 production. In 1884,Glycère dramatically and musicallytakes over Sappho's roleas leadinglady, replacing the chaste early nineteenth-century fantasy with a decadentfin-de-siècle fantasy of Sappho as courtesan. The preponderanceof iconographie relics from the production appear morestriking compared to thelack of musical relics. The 1884 score was never published and the manuscripts,scattered across the globe, deserve more attention.15The visual domain of the new version not only provides greaterinsight to the vogue forOrientalism and exoticismat theOpéra, but also shows how thescore and librettoreceived changes to complementthe growingtrends in visual culture. Sappho and Terpsichore: Régina Badet as Sapphô (1912). In contrast,the 1912 operetta,Sappho , by AndréBarde and Michel Carré,with music by CharlesCuvillier, has neithera survivingscore nor a libretto.16 One review documentsits existence.It appears at firstglance to take Augier and Gounod's Saphoas a point of departure.Revolutionaries and courtesansmark this narrative of betrayal; however, both music and text aim forsatire and humor above gravitasand drama. In his review forLe Théâtre,Etienne Roubier writes: Vous devinezque l'œuvren'a aucunrapport avec celle d'Alphonse Daudet; il s'agitici de la poétesse antique,inexorable, comme l'on sait, aux désirsdes hommes.Les auteursnous l'ont présentée traver- sant- sije puisdire - unecrise de curiositéamoureuse et légitimement impatiente, après l'ivresse des bonheursdevinés, de goûteraux joies révélées.17 Roubier's highlysuggestive précis continues as he describeshow Sapphô throwsher devotion on Phaon, an "éphèbe". In theoperetta, however, Phaon's love is chasteand virtuous:"He holds ontohis virtuetighter than a woman her hair."18Her love forPhaon proves problematicfor her politicalallies as Eunice comes to separate Phaon and Sappho. Eunice sends Phaon to the courtesanMyrrhine, and Sappho into exile. In the

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6. Productionphoto of RéginaBadet as Sappho.Le Théâtre319 (1 April1912), 24. - 7. MaryGarden as Aphrodite. Chicagonewspaper clipping (1906).

second act,Eunice woos Phaon but he swaps places withLycias who wants to focuson his career"de sports- man". The imbrogliocontinues until Sappho returnsand mimesthe story of Diana and Acteon and she and her lover are reunited.The reviewerleaves tantalizingclues about the operetta'stopical and sexual humor notinghow "MM. André Barde et Michel Carré used copious bits of charminghumor in the amusing dialo gue of thisimbroglio: the undertonesof currentevents, and otherpiquant allusions pepper the textof this spicy parody/'19 While score and librettoappear to be lost,we can deduce some of the "piquant" allusions throughcos- tume,set, character, and thereviews.20 Looking at one ofthe costumes worn by the dancerRégina Badet re- produced in Le Théâtre,one notes strikingsimilarities to the costumes and poses of Mary Garden in Thaïs (1894) and Aphrodite(1906) signalingthat a victimof the satiremight have been the ancientGreek themed operas popular in Paris. The use ofthe sexually charged mirror as prop (a commoncipher for women's sexual solipsismand consequentlylesbian eroticism),21as well as thedistinctive headpiece and pose demonstra- te thatthese works (bothbased on fantasiesof antiquity featuring courtesans) proved worthyof satire in the operetta[figs. 6-9].

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Barde and Carré's Ancient Satirical Models and Modern Subjects of Ridicule. Anotherphoto forLe Théâtrefeatures Badet mimingthe storyof Diane and Acteon fora coterieof classical charactersfrom popular fictionand history[fig. 10]. Due to themissing score and libretto,it is impossibleto know theexact natureof these charactersor how the authorsparodied themin the comedy. The charactersdepicted in the productionphoto forSappho include Macrobe,Calyce, Myrrhine,Phaon, Sappho, Bilitis,Lycias, Mnasidice, and Glycère.Understanding their cultural, theatrical and literarysignificance in earlytwentieth-century Paris reveals some of the piquant allusions referredto by the reviewerof the 1912 operetta. Macrobe (the Gallicized name of AmbrosiusMacrobius Theodosius, fl.395-423) authoredSaturnalia, a chronicleof the discussions supposedly held at the house of VettiusPraetetatus (ca. 325-385) on the eve beforethe winter Roman holiday Saturnalia.Styled in themanner of Plato's Symposium, the second book of thiswork is filledwith "bons mots'7as well as a discussion of sensual delights;much of thishas been lost, but what exists deals with "pleasures of the table".22Some sources identifyCalycè (Calyce, Kalyke, or Calycia), a nymphand thedaughter of Aeolus and Enarete,as Zeus's lover,others as one ofthe Nysiads who nursed Dionysus. "Lycias" (Lysias, ca. 445-380 BC) was most famous as an Atticorator involved in demo- craticpolitics and continuallycited as a paradigm of the Atticprose style,notably by Plato in the Phaedrus; however,the name appears in othersources as well.23 We findGlycère (Glycera) not only in Augier and Gounod's Sapho,but in numerousGreek and Roman textsas a commonname fora courtesan.24A "Glycera" came betweenthe comic playwrightsMenander and Philemon,and the name of a courtesan"Glycera" appears frequentlyin Horace's odes ( Carmina1:19, 1:30, 1:33,and 111:19).She ofteninvokes strong passions in thenarrator not onlyfor her beauty but also hersexual prowess. In Carmen1:19 only "a victim'sblood will soothe hervehemence".25 Carmen 1:33 parallels Glyerca's toxiclove, where Horace's speaker consoles a youngerman who has been lured and discarded by Glycera thecourtesan: "What, Albius! why thispassionate despair / For cruelGlycera? why meltyour voice / In do- lorous strains,because the perjuredfair / Has made a youngerchoice?"26 In Carmen111:19, he vows: "I for my Glyceraslowly, slowly die."27 Anotherfamous incantationof her name appears in Lucian's Dialoguesof the Courtesans. Here Glycera and Thaïs discuss how one of Glycera's lovers/patrons has abandoned her foranother courtesan (whom Thaïs reassures her friendis much older and uglier,yet is tall and has a nice smile). Lucian of Samosata (known also in the Gallicized version as Lucien, ca. 120-after180 CE), known forhis irreverenthumor and satiricaldialogues, proved popular in late-nineteenth-centuryculture with at least six complete modern translatededitions appearing in thelast threedecades ofthe century.28 Also included in these dialogues are thenames Pythiasand Lysias (Pythéasfound in Augier's librettoand Lycias foundin Barde and Carré's operetta).Lucian's charactersin thisdialogue include a courtesanJoessa, her friend (another courtesan) Pythias, and an Athenianyoung boy, Lysias. Joessa opens thedialogue witha lamentto Lysias equatinghim to Phaon and threateningto kill herself: Jo[essa:] Cross boy! But I deserveit all! I oughtto have treatedyou as anyother girl would do, bo- theredyou formoney, and beenengaged when you called,and madeyou cheatyour father or rob yourmother to get presents for me; instead of which, I havealways let you in from the very first time, and ithas nevercost you a penny,Lysias. Think of all thelovers I havesent away [.. .] I keptmyself foryou, hard-hearted Phaon that you are! I was foolenough to believe all yourvows, and havebeen livinglike a Penelopefor your sake; mother is furiousabout it, and is alwaystalking at me to her friends.And now that you feel sure of me, and know how I doteon you, what is theconsequence? You flirtwith Lycaena under my very eyes, just to vex me; you sitnext to me at dinner,and paycompli- mentsto Magidium, a meremusic-girl, and hurt my feelings, and make me cry. [. . .] as forCymbalium, whomyou kissed no lessthan five times, I didn'tmind so muchabout that, - itmust have been suf- ficientpunishment in itself: [...] Did I everdisplease you? ever look at any other man? Do I notlive for youalone? [. . .] You willbe sorrysome day, perhaps, when you hear of my hanging myself, or jumping headfirst into a well;for die I will,one way or another, rather than live to be an eyesoreto you. There willbe an achievementfor you to boast of! You neednot look at melike that, nor gnash your teeth: if youhave anything to say against me, here is Pythias;let her judge between us. Oh,you are going away withouta word? - You see whatI haveto putup with,Pythias!29

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8. MaryGarden as Aphroditewearing the distinctive headdress. Private collection. - 9. MaryGarden as Thaïs holdingmirror. Private collection.

Lysias, however does not see his behavior as unwarranted,for when he returnshe angrilychides the women forcondemning him as he is justified.Just five days beforehe caughtJoessa in bed withanother man! The imbroglioends withthe revelationthat the man in bed withJoessa was none otherthan Pythias whose head had been shaved due to illness.Even in thescholarly Fowler translation,the reconciliation of the three hintsat a sexual ménageà trois. Myrrhineappears in Aristophanes's Lysistrata as the ring-leader'sclose friendand the wife who mer- cilesslytortures her husband's erection,leading him on with oils, beds, pillows and blanketsonly to refuse him. Steadfastin her chastity,Myrrhine notoriously controls the amorous situationmanipulating her husband to help theLysistrata's "Amazons" win theirpeace. Glycera(Glykera) and Myrrhineboth show up in Meander (ca. 342-291 BCE)as well. In Perikeiromene ("The one withthe shaved head"), Glycerais a concubine of a mercenarysoldier. Myrrhineis the neighborwho has been secretlybringing up Glycera's brotherwho had been separated at birth.When Glycera embraces her brotherher head is shaved in punishment. EventuallyGlycera moves intoMyrrhine's house as the courtesanseeks her freedomin the statusof wife.30 Myrrhinealso appears as a commonname forheteria (courtesans) attached to theAttic orator, Hyperides as "the most expensive heteriaof her day".31

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Bilitisand Mnasidice are bothcharacters from Pierre Louys' s fictitiouscollection of ancient lesbian poetry from1894. Les Chansonsde Bilitis, perhaps the author's most controversialwork, is a collectionof poems writtenby a fictionalancient Greek female author, Bilitis, who was supposedly a contemporaryof Sappho ofLesbos. Louys claimed to have translatedthe poems fromthe original Greek sources, and in his introduc- tioneven listedfictional academic citations.The poems portraythe three periods ofBilitis' s love life:her lust fora young shepherd,a ten-yearrelationship with another woman on theisle ofLesbos, and finally,her life as a courtesanin Cyprus.Mnasidice plays a criticalrole in thesecond partas thechief female lover ofBilitis. In thepoem, Les seinsde Mnasidika, for example, Louys unambiguouslydepicts a homoeroticscene between the two women. Mnasidika's breasts Lesseins de Mnasidika Carefully,with one hand, she openedher tunic and Avecsoin, elle ouvritd'une main sa tuniqueet me tenderedme herbreasts, warm and sweet,just as one tenditses seinstièdes et doux,ainsi qu'on offreà la offersthe goddess a pairof living turtle-doves. déesseune pairede tourterellesvivantes. "Love them shesaid to "I lovethem so! « Aime-les me dit-elle les aimetant ? Ce well", me; bien, ; je are little littlechildren. I sontdes des enfants. d'eux They darlings, busymyself chéris, petits Jem'occupe withthem when I am alone.I with I suis seule. aec eux leurfais play them; plea- quandje Jejoue »; je plaisir. surethem." « les doucheavec du lait. les avec des Je Je poudre "I flushthem with milk. I themwith flow- fleurs.Mes cheveuxfins les essuientsont chers à powder qui ers.I themwith softto their leurs bouts. les caresseen frissonnant.les dry myfine-spun hair, petits Je Je little I caressthem and I shiver.I couchthem couchedans de la laine.» nipples. in softwool." « n'aurai d'enfants,sois leur Puisqueje jamais "SinceI shallnever have a child,be their nourrisson,mon amour, et sontsi loinde ma nursling, puisqu'ils oh! love,and since areso distantfrom bouche,ne-leur des baisersde ma » my they my part. mouth,kiss them, sweet, for me."32

As it turnsout, every single characterfeatured in Sapphois associated withclassical courtesansin some way. The arrayof women portrayedin thissatirical work range fromfictional courtesans to historicalcour- tesans and all are united under Sappho, Lysistrata-likein her abilityto unifythese sexually aware women and sexually curious men fromall over the fantasticalancient world. As forthe music,which remainsmissing, a look at anotherBarde and Cuvilliercollaboration offers an example of the ways in which these authorsfashioned music and satireunder the tunicsof ancientGreek courtesans.Their operetta, Laïs , ou la CourtisaneAmoureuse (first presented in 1907at theThéâtre des Capucines in Paris under the titleSon PetitFrère and expanded to threeacts in 1912,and performedin London in the 33 late1910s and again in Parisin 1929), consistsof light songs and ensemblepieces with catchy popular melodies and simpleaccompaniments. Music remainsmerely a vehiclefor the presentation of farce, satire, and humor.

Sappho's Boudoir: Natalie Barney and Private Sapphic Writing and Performances Fairedes fragments.34 The allusions to a sexually licensed Sappho, and particularlythe lesbian referencesto Bilitiswould not have slipped by Natalie CliffordBarney, the Americanheiress who reignednot only as the "Queen of the Amazons", but also as themost vocal proponentof Sappho in queer women's circlesin earlytwentieth-cen- turyParis. As the founderof Paris-Lesbos,her writingsand activitiesdemonstrate a livelyprivate Sapphic discourse. Afterinheriting the familyfortune in 1902, she used her funds to set up her salon firstin Neuilly and thenat 20 rue Jacob,where she attractedthe most fantastically sensationalist gossip. She studied Frenchand Greek,and in 1897 she suggested to two of her lovers thatthey start their own "Sapphic Circle" dedicated to thelove ofbeauty and sensuality.Other initiates to thecircle included courtesanslike Liane de Pougy and artistslike Colette.

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10.Production photo from act II ofSappho by André Barde and MichelCarré. Le Théâtre319 (1 April 1912),22.

Her garden centeredon an elaborate Greek-styleTemple of Friendship, prominently housing a bust of Sappho [fig.11], where Paris's most elite lesbians gatheredto see and to be seen. Dressed in elaboratecos- tumesas ladies and pageboys,or maybe,like the writer Colette, sliding through the garden stark naked, visi- torsto Barney'shome enjoyed a place where manywomen could expresstheir sexuality freely without fear of persecutionor judgment,amidst a bouquet of exotic incense and under the watchfulgaze of Sappho's statue. It was Eva Palmer,Barney's childhood friend and laterlover, who introducedher to Sappho's fragments and to the lusciouslyadorned world of the ancientGreeks. Like otherwomen of lettersat thistime, Barney learnedGreek and poeticforms with private tutors in orderto gain themark of the "intellectual aristocracy", and like VirginiaWoolf, she studied Greekin partto recoverthe works ofSappho fromthe male academics, insertinga sexual-politicalreading to the past. In London, VirginiaWoolf studied Sappho's culturein an effortto understandthe social conditionsthat gave women thenecessary freedom to functionas artists.In Paris,Natalie Barneydiscovered in Sappho the promiseof an alternativelesbian culture,one definedby women themselvesrather than by a dominantpa- triarchy,one thatrepudiated theview of lesbianismas "sick" and "perverted",its membersoutcast as "the thirdsex".35 While Barney'ssalon was notfor all queer women in Paris,it became one ofthe most important

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11.Natalie Barney in front of her temple à l'amitié at 20 rue Jacob in Paris (ca. 1940).

meetingplaces forthe burgeoning lesbian cultureof Paris in theearly years ofthe twentieth century: and at its center,Sappho herself. In an oftretold story: Around 1900,Barney, upset over losingher lover Renée Vivien to anotherwoman, senther good friend,the famous opera star,Emma Calvé dressed as a streetsinger to serenade Vivien from beneathher window withOrpheus' s lament,"J'ai perdu mon Euridice/'Jean Chalón, Barney'samanuensis, tells the restof the story: Similarlydisguised [as a streetsinger] Natalie [Barney] collected the coins thrown to them. But Renée- Eurydicedid notappear. Emma Calvé, who had dazzledAmerican audiences in the role of Carmen, continuedher concert with the famous: "Love is thechild of Bohemia who has neverknown any law."36More susceptible to Bizetthan to Gluck,Renée half-opened a window and Nataliethrew up herpoem [based on Sappho fragment 49],37 attached to a bouquet.The passersby who stopped, recog- nizedEmma Calvé, applauded as she and Natalieran off.38 This, possibly apocryphal,story, regardless of its veracity,illustrates not only Barney's penchantfor Sappho, but also music,and in particular,the story reifies the ancient poeťs connectionsto boththe musical and romanticworlds of Barney,her premierepatron in the earlyyears of the twentiethcentury. While Barney's interestin Sappho has been well documented,scant informationexists on the role of music withinBarney's salon. Photographsand reminiscencesabout Barney's temple as well as the more

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12. A gatheringof women including Eva Palmer,Natalie Barney and possibleLiane de Pougyin Barney'sgarden in Neuilly.Washington, D.C., SmithsonianInstitute Archives, Alice Pike Barney Papers Acc. 96-153, folder 6.193.

formalFriday salons provide the majorityof the information.The Sappho worship seems to have begun around 1900,when Barneystill resided in Neuilly. A photographfrom one of the earlyperformances form around 1905 or 1907 depicts a group of women in Greekcostume, hands raised, circlinga raised platform holding an unidentifiedflute player, Penelope Duncan playingharp, and a singeror oratorwho may be Eva Palmer.The courtesan,Liane de Pougy appears on the farleft side of the image looking at the camera,and Natalie Barneyis in thecenter (in whitein half-profile)[fig. 12]. MorrillCody remembersthat the two Friday eveningshe attendedat Barney'shome included readings and music as well as champagne,cocktails, and delicious cateredhors d'oeuvres.39Virgil Thompson had FourSaints in ThreeActs showcased there,she also hostedthe premieres of Antheil's Symphony for Five Instruments and his firststring quartet, as well as featured worksby Darius Milhaud and FlorentSchmitt in hersalon.40 In an interview,Barney's longtime housekeeper, BertheCleyrergue, contradicts this when asked if therewere any concertsat Barney's salon: "No." she replied,"There was never any music. No. Never any music."41The discrepanciesbetween chroniclershint perhaps at a separation of attendeesto Barney's home: those who hear music and those who don't. One cannot deny thatmusic played a large role in Barney'slife, but "Sapphic" musical performanceappears to have remaineda privateendeavor, heard only by a few select initiates. Colette discusses one early Greek-inspiredperformance in Neuilly where she and Eva Palmer drama- tized PierreLouys's Dialogueau soleilcouchant (a simple Arcadian tale ofa Greekshepherd, who fallsfor the beautiful Greek maiden, who at firstremains hesitantuntil she succumbs to the shepherd's voice). In Barney'sgarden, the aspiringactresses, Palmer as the maiden to Colette's shepherd,performed this homo- eroticfantasy adorned in ancientGreek costumes and accompanied by a group ofviolinists hidden behind a boulder.43 June1906 saw the productionof Barney's Equivoque,again featuringColette and Eva Palmer,this time focusingon thelove betweenSappho and a bride-to-bewho abandons Sappho formarriage. "Within a circle of columns on the lawn stood a five-footwrought-iron brazier waftingincense toward the audience. The

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13.Eva Palmerand PenelopeDuncan performing Equivoque inNatalie Barney's backyard in Neuilly (ca. 1906).Washing- ton,D.C., SmithsonianInstitute Archives, Alice Pike Barney PapersAcc. 96-153, folder 6.76.

barefootor sandaled actresses,clad in gauzy whitefloor-length Greek robes, danced to Aeolean harp music and traditionalsongs performedby RaymondDuncan and his Greekwife, Penelope/'43 The survivingphoto- graphs fromthis event depict the dancer with her Greek harpist(Penelope Duncan) standingnear a short classical pedestal holdinga tinystatue, both women draped in ancientGreek costume [fig. 13]. Eva's distant gaze and Penelope's focusedattention seem to evoke Orphic overtoneswith the iconic harp adding support to thisreading. The resultingimage weaves the loss associated with the partialfragmented œuvre of Sap- pho's poetrywith the loss ofthe beloved Eurydice,which mirrors the plot ofÉquivoque - thebride-to-be who abandons Sappho formarriage. While "performed"music featureda small (or in some accounts non-existentrole) in the semi-private salon, music featuredprominently in theprivate and poeticworlds ofBarney and thewomen ofher Sapphic salon. Renée Vivien's Sonnetfeminine is just one example of the poet's fixationon the powers of music wedded to a discourse of loss and the past under the umbrellaof Sapphic reflection.44 Ta voixa la langueurdes lyreslesbiennes, L'anxiétédes chantset des odes saphiques, Et tu sais le secretd'accablantes musiques, Où pleurele soupird'unions anciennes.

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14. RomaineBrooks, Le Trajet(1911). National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.

Les Aèdesfervents et les Musiciennes T'enseignèrentFampleur des stropheséro tiques Et la gravitédes lapidairesdistiques. Jadistu contemplasles nuditéspaïennes. Tu semblesécouter F écho des harmonies Mortes; bleusde ce bleu des clartésinfinies, Tes yeuxont le refletdu cielde Mytilène. Les fleursont parfumé tes étranges mains creuses ; De toncorps monte, ainsi qu'une légère haleine, La blanchevolupté des viergesamoureuses. In writing,Barney and her companions used nostalgiaand the past to expressa generalsense of loss as desire (and desire as loss). The conflationof sexual desire and a lost past is best exhibitedin Barney'spoem, Jeme souviens (I remember),written in 1904 forRenée Vivien and presentedto herin a beautifulhandwritten copy at the1904 Bayreuthfestival. As a devout Wagnerite(Barney was a frequentattendee at Bayreuth),her choiceof venue forthe gift to Renée Vivieninflects the extended poems' desireand nostalgiawith Wagnerian overtonesof decadence.45 Disapproving ofthe clichés of grand opera, Barney found truth in Wagnerism,and used Bayreuthas a venue foramorous as well as philosophical activities.Deeply affectedas she was by Lohengrinand Tannhäuser from her first visit, return trips proved to deepen herbeliefs .46 Another, almost T ris- tan-esque,declamation in Éparpillementshints at thesource ofher attachmentto Wagner,the psychological drama,the suffering, pain and wonderfullyprolonged enjoyment: "Accepter simplement la souffrance- et toutesses joies ."47 The unityof loss, desire,and Sappho's Greece become clear in anotheranecdote retoldin JeanChalón' s biographyof Barney. In wooing Renée Vivien,Barney often sent gifts attached to poetryin hopes ofwinning Vivien'sheart and mind.After their first sexual encounter,Barney had tosneak back home so herfamily would not know thatshe spent the nightin anotherwoman's bedroom. Chanlon narratesthe restof the story:

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15. Natalie Barney. Washington. D.C.,Smithsonian Institute Archives, AlicePike Barney Papers Acc. 96-153, folder6.75.

That very day, Natalie had an antique flutedelivered to Renée. Renée answered by a telegram: How I lovethe silent music of this old flute.And thank you for the pretty thought that made you send thisharmonious gift. ITI listento thedormant memories that it contains.And ITI think tenderlyof you. Until Tuesday evening. Flowers,together with thiscard, followed close upon the telegram: Theseflowers are not to adornyou, dear little one, for that would be futile,but so thatyou may havesomething of me on yourperson today.48 Barney'sgift and Vivien's replyinvoke not only Greece and sexual desire but moststrikingly Sappho's poetry.The encounteritself is a paraphrase of Sappho fr.118: "yes! Radiant lyrespeak to me / become a voice/'49The corpus of musical referencesto Barneyand her salon- the plays, the poems, the dances, the gifts- painta communitydevoted to developinga separateSappho - a fragmentedSappho - set apartfrom hernineteenth-century sisters, a Sappho withthe Hellenistic nobility of Gounod and thedecadent adventure of PierreTouys. When Barneyinstructed her readers to "make fragments"in 1910,what did she have in mind?50Was this a plea to constructincomplete works, or to deconstructcomplete ones? In Barney's art it seems thatfrag- ments-of narrative,of poetry,and even of images - were of prized importance.In her Sapphic inspired plays, her romanticescapades, and her poetry,the fragmentsof Sappho poke out of the fabric.For Barney, fragmentsmight be a metaphorfor loss as theywere forher lover the artistRomaine Brooks. In La Trajet (1911),her painting of a corpse-likeIda Rubinstein,the anemic nude subjectbecomes an objectof desire [fig. 14]. Bram Dijkstrawrites:

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Brooks7painting becomes not a critiqueof the turn-of-the-century's victimization ofwoman as passive objectbut an emotionallycharged expression of the manner in which women attempted to transform theirpassive position in this society as manipulatedobjects into the illusion of an activeparticipation intheir domination through a supposedlyself-elected ideal of physical individualism and consump- tivefragility. To Brooksand to theviewer, her subject, Ida Rubinstein,is an objectof desire because sherepresents an invertedideal of personal control. The hollow eyes and the anorexic emaciation were well-knownand well-publicizedfeatures of Rubinstein's dramatic personality.51 Similarly,Barney manipulated her own image to transforma photographof a passive dancerinto an act ofSapphic poetry- a photographicfragment. Natalie Barneytruly made a fragmentby mercilesslytearing and cuttingaway the otherdancers in thisimage withscissors [fig.15]. Like the lines of Sappho, the image tellsonly a portionof the story,begging for its missingpiece, invitingthe viewer or the scholarto fillin the restof the frame. Whose hand does she hold? Whatelse is there?As Naomi Schorwrites concerning the cartes postalesof Paris ca. 1900: [W]hatwe havehere is [.. .] a fragmentof past Parisian life. The postcards we holdin ourhands and fileaway in ouralbums are the same cards as thosewe can see representedon postcardsof postcard displays[...]; theycreate, however tenuously, some sort of direct link between the viewer and the viewed.The complex and shiftingreality that was Parisat theturn of the century is herereduced to a seriesof discrete units that can be easilymanipulated and readilyconsumed.52 A fragmentof a fragment,Barney's image, like the old postcard and thepainting of the corpse-like Rubin- stein,simultaneously channels the desire of loss throughthe willful manipulation of the remnants of the past. Sappho Redux. In situatingthe past in the present,historical and adaptive literary/dramatic methods can be scene as almost synonymous.Walter Benjamin made the comparisonin 1940: Ifone looksupon history as text,then one can sayof it what a recentauthor has said ofliterary texts - namely,that the past has leftin themimages comparable to thoseregistered by a light-sensitive plate.'The futurealone possesses developers strong enough to revealthe image in all itsdetails.../ Thehistorical method is a philologicalmethod based on thebook of life.53 Benjaminnotes the process of "developing" the past in the futureand of the historianas a "reader" of history.The metaphorof the artist(photographer) reading historyand developing it into a photographof the past and the multiplicityof developing techniques(histories) to createa panoply panorama of images fromthe same negativeis exactlythe metaphorwe need to uncover the myriadrepresentations of Sappho in Parisian musical culture.Each productionexists almost exclusivelyas images and mostlyphotographs. Butwhat ofthe role ofthe elusive authorSappho (theoriginal subject) in therewriting and redeveloping of what remains of the tatterednegatives of her life and work? The tendencyto conflateher life and her poetryhas always been strong,and forgood reason perhaps. As Roland Barthesdescribes, the authordoes "come back" in her text: " Itis not that the Author may not "come back" in the Text, in [her] text, but [s]he then does so as a guest". If[s]he is a novelist,[s]he is inscribedin thenovel like one of[her] characters, figured in thecarpet; nolonger privileged, paternal, aletheological, [her] inscription isludic. [She] becomes, as itwere, a paper- author:[her] life is no longerthe origin of [her] fictions but a fictioncontributing to [her] work; there is a reversionof the work on tothe life (and no longerthe contrary); itis thework of Proust, of Genet whichallows their lives to be readas a text.The word "bio-graphy" re-acquires a strong, etymological sense,at the same timeas the sincerityof the enunciation-veritable 'cross7 borne by literary morality-becomes a falseproblem: the I whichwrites the text, it too, is nevermore than a paper.54 Sappho, the real historicalSappho, has certainlybeen lost,and the remnantsof her have fallenvictim to her own incompletetexts, her own mythologies. When we look at what remains(which scraps ofpoetry survive the millennia of reception) we findthat Sappho's contemporariessaved the mostcritical, the mostsplendid, the mostimpressionable lines, stanzas and phrases fromher oeuvre fortime immemorial. Similarly, this foray into Sapphic fantasiesand mythsof fin-de-siècleParis demonstratesthat despite our disciplinarybiases, the visual- the clothing,the sets,the photos ofparties - remainthe dominantelement of these productions from the last century.In theend, musical cultureplayed second (or third)fiddle to thevisual realm,and onlythrough interdisciplinary research can we enlightenthe musical discourse with these splendid productions.

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Example1. CharlesGounod, Sapho, act II, entranceof Glycère (1884 version). Harvard University, Houghton Library, MS Mus 175 (folder4).

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Notes

1 Sappho,If not, Winter: Fragments ofSappho, translated by ronormativesexual life. See DeJean, Fictions ofSappho, 56. AnneCarson (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002), 240-241. 17"You have thatthe work has no relation 2 might guessed JoanDeJean, Fictions ofSappho, 1546-1937 (Chicago; Lon- withthat of Alphonse Daudet, this is the ancient poet, inexorable, don:The University ofChicago Press, 1989), 1. as we know,to thedesires of men. The authors have take us 3 - MargaretReynolds, ed., The Sappho Companion (New York: through-ifI maysay so a crisisof curiosity inlove and justi- Palgrave,2002), 71. fiablyimpatient, after the drunken orgy, to taste the joys reveal- 4 73. ed."Étienne Roubier, "Aux Capucines, Sapphô, Opérette endeux Ibid., deMM. André Barde et Michel deM. Char- 5 Fictions 93.For more on seventeenth- actes, Carré,Musique DeJean, ofSappho, lesCuvillier", LeThéâtre 319 (1 April 1912), 22. centuryFrench literary reincarnations ofSappho, see chapter one. 18 6 Ibid.,22. Ibid.,119-120. 19 7 « MM.André Barde et Michel Carré ont dépensé dans le Reynolds,The Sappho Companion , 195-196. 8 dialoguede cet amusant imbroglio laplus copieuse belle humeur; SeeJacqueline Letzter, "Making a Spectacleof Oneself: lessous-entendus d'actualité, lesallusions piquantes émaillent le FrenchRevolutionary Opera by Women", Cambridge Opera Journal textede cette parodie pimentée. » Ibid., 24. 3 215-232; Letzterand Robert 20 XI/ (November1999), Jacqueline TheThéâtre aux Capucines where most of Cuvillier' s ope- Adelson,Women Writing Opera: Creativity andControversy inthe rettas no existsat 39 boulevard des theFrench Revolution Los London:Uni- premieredlonger Capucines. Ageof (Berkeley; Angeles; Thevenue was small without an orchestrapit and works were versityofCalifornia Press, 2001), 100-104; aswell as David Charl- oftenwith one or two andno morethan six ton,"The andits 12-Note Chord", performed pianos TragicSeascape: Sapho Jahrbuch actorson stage at a time. ßr OpernforschungI (1985), 46-72. 21 9 SeeBram Dijkstra, "Women of Moonlight and Wax: The This"revolutionary" Sappho had appeared before at the Mirrorof Venus and the Lesbian Idols Fan- in ofGiovanni Pacini and Salvadore Cammara- Glass", ofPerversity: premier Naples tasiesof Feminine Evil in fin-de-siècle Culture (Oxford; New York: no's1840 opera Saffo. In Pacini'sversion, Saffo competes at a Oxford 147-159. similar contestto theauthoritarian rule of the UniversityPress, 1986), poetry challenge 22 Thurston ClassicalAnti- priestsof Apollo. Her oratory tries to incite the people to rebel Harry Peck,Harpers Dictionary of quities(New York: Harper and Brothers, 1898), 990. againstthe cruel tradition ofthe sacrificial leap from the rock of 23 Leucas.This blasphemy angers the Leucadian priest Alcandros Plato,however cites Lysias as paradigmaticbut utterly whoseeks and has his force flawed.See Plato, Phaedrus 230-234. vengeance, daughter,Clymene, 24 Saffo7s lover, Phaon to marry her. When Saffo discovers Alcand- SeeB.L. Ullman, "Some Type-Names onthe Odes of Ho- ros7plan, she sneaks into the wedding where she becomes so en- race",The Classical Quarterly IX/1 (January1915), 27-30; J.P. Post- ragedthat she topples the altar. Her punishment is to take the gate,"Albius and Tibullus", The American Journal ofPhilology sameLeucadian leap she protested against in the opening. Re- XXXIII/4(1912), 451-452; and B.L. Ullman, "Rejoinder to Mr. morsefulforher blasphemy atthe wedding, like Gounod's Sapho, Postgate",The American Journal ofPhilology XXXIII/4 (1912), 457- sheis resolutein accepting her fate even when her true identity 458. 25 as Alcandros'slong lost daughter is revealed. This daring, con- Horace,The Odes and Carmen Saeculare ofHorace, transi, by frontational,andat times, unruly Sappho is certainlya revolu- JohnConington (London: George Bell and Sons, 1882), vol. 1, 19. tionary.She stands up toauthority and injustice like Gounod's 26 vol. 33. and thetwo share the of Ibid., 1, Sappho (albeitposthumous) glory 27Ibid., vol. 3,19. martyrdom. 28 10 SeePeck, Harpers Dictionary ofClassical Antiquities, 970. JosephBennett, "Some Recent Music in Paris", The Musical 29 Timesand Singing Class Circular XXV/495 (1May 1884), 254. Lucian,The Works ofLucian ofSamosata, translated byH. W. 11 254. Fowlerand F.G. Fowler, 4 vols. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, Ibid., vol. 69-70. 12In addition to the decadence of thereexisted [1905]), 4, Wagnerism 30 See David Konstan,"Between Courtesan and Wife: a distinctly"queer" Wagnerian reception as well.See Mitchell Menander'sPerikeir omene" ,Phoenix 41/2 (summer 1989), 122-139. Morris,"Tristan's Wounds: On Homosexual Wagnerians atthe 31 Finde Siècle", Queer Episodes inMusic and Modern Identity, edited Paraphrasingboth Plutrach (X Orat.894d-e) and Athe- bySophie Fuller and Lloyd Whitsell (Urbana; Chicago: University naeus(13.590d-e). See Craig Cooper, "Hyperides and the Trial of ofIllinois Press, 2002), 271-291. Phryne",Phoenix XLIX/ 4 (winter 1995), 304-310. 13 32 Manyof these additions currently reside at Harvard Uni- PierreLouýs, Ies Chansons deBilitis, Lithographies originales versity,Houghton Library, MS Mus 175, others are housed at the deJacques Daniel (Paris: le clubfrançais du livre,1957), 95-96; Bibliothèquedel'Opéra, the Stiftelsen Musikkulturens Främjande PierreLouýs, The Songs of Bilitis, English version by Alvah C. in Stockholm,and theNew York Public Library. See Steven Bessie,illus. by Willy Pogany (repr. ed., 1926, New York: Dover Huebner,The CharlesGounod ClarendonPress, Publications,Inc., 1988), 83. Operasof (Oxford: 33 1990),190. Toexpand the work, Cuvillier added a firstact, as wellas 14From act II, scene 4. a songbefore the ballet of the third act. Other than these additions 15 therest of the music remains identical to the 1907 version. SeeHuebner, The Operas of Charles Gounod, 187 and 190. 16 34Natalie Clifford E. Sansot, JoanDeJean posits that the changing orthography of"Sap- Barney,Éparpillements (Paris: 1910),60. pho"in French scholarship from "Sapho" to "Sapphô" seems to 35 coincidewith a "toleranceofsexual diversity" as twentieth cen- ShariBenstock, Women ofthe Left Bank: Paris, 1900-1940 turyscholars begin to accept the possibility ofthe poet's non-hete- (Austin:University ofTexas Press, 1986), 281.

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This content downloaded from 131.238.16.30 on Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:14:24 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Samuel N. Dorf,Operatic and ChoreographieAdaptations of Sapphic Lives and Myths 36 "L'amour est un oiseau rebelled" from Bizeťs Carmen. againsther condemnation ofthe plots of Grand Opera. She writes: 37 " Sapphofragment 49reads: I lovedyou, Atthis, once long "UnRusse lui écrit des lettres comme des libretti degrand opéra. ago/ a littlechild you seemed to me and graceless/7 Sappho, If Lesfemmes aiment toujours les clichésrassurants de ceuxqui not; Winter: Fragments ofSappho , trans, by Anne Carson (New saventne pas les troubler par une personnalité autre que celle de York:Alfred A. Knopf, 2002), 103. Yamant coutumier. C'est peut-être leur manière de lui être 38 fidèle?"Barney, Éparpillements, 36. JeanChalón, Portrait ofa Seductress:TheWorld of Natalie 46 Barney,trans, by Carol Burko (New York: Crown Publishers, SeeRodriguez, Wild at Heart, 68 and 164-165. Barney did 76-77. however,have some misgivings about Bayreuth when she wrote: 1979), - - 39Morrill with TheWomen "ABayreuth. Musique gigantesque mais il est permis de ne Cody HughFord, ofMontparnasse aimerle 40. (NewYork; London: Cornwell Books, 1984), 135-136. pas gigantesque."Ibid., 40 47Ibid., 10. Ibid.,135; and SuzanneRodriguez, Wild Heart: Natalie 48 VictorianAmerica tothe Salons Chalón,Portrait ofa Seductress,61. CliffordBarney's Journey from Literary 49 ofParis (New York: Ecco, 2002), 249-250. Sappho,If not, Winter: Fragments ofSappho, 240-241. 41 50 GloriaFeman Orenstein and Berthe Cleyrergue, "The Barney,Éparpillements, 60. 51 Salonof Natalie Clifford Barney: An Interview with Berthe Cley- Dijkstra,Idols of Perversity, 53. rergue",Signs IV/3 (spring 1979), 488. 52 42 NaomiSchor, "Cartes Postales : Represting Paris 1900", Rodriguez,Wild Heart , 155; Colette, Mes apprentissages , Critical Inquiry XVIII/2 (winter 1992), 237. TroisSix Discoursde à l'Académie 53 Neuf Réception RoyaleBelge. WalterBenjamin, "Paralipomena to'On theConcept of Œuvrescomplètes (Genève: Éditions de Cremili e,1970), 158. 43 History'",Selected Writings, IV:1938-1940, ed. by Howard Eiland Rodriguez,Wild Heart, 157. andMichael W. Mass.:Harvard 44 Jennings(Cambridge, University SeeMartha Vicinus, "The Adolescent Boy: Fin de Siècle Press,2003), 405. 54 FemmeFatale?" Journal ofthe History ofSexuality V/l (July1994), RolandBarthes, "From Work to Text", Image, Music ; Text, 104-105. trans, Heath York:Hill and 161. 45 byStephen (New Wang,1977), Barney'spreference for Wagner stands highlighted

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