The Mapleson Memoirs, 1848-1888, vol II

In the bustling world of 19th‑century opera, a seasoned impresario finds his career perched on a razor’s edge. After a triumphant tour of America, he returns to London only to be blindsided by the Royal Italian Opera Company’s sudden refusal to honour a lucrative contract he brokered with the famed Mme. Patti. The breach leaves him holding thousands of pounds in unauthorized agreements and a looming debt that threatens to upend his carefully built reputation.

As rival houses in New York and Paris scramble to poach his star singers, he must navigate a maze of broken leases, vanished scenery, and a chorus stripped from his own theatre. The stakes rise when the directors offer him a clean break but refuse any compensation, forcing him to decide whether to stand idle or to fight for the contracts that could salvage his empire. The memoir captures a dramatic clash of ambition, artistry, and financial peril that shaped a pivotal era in operatic history.