ABSTRACT
On 1 January 1820 a five-page report on Viotti's appointment to the position of director of the Paris Opera was published in the influential German music journal the Allgemeine musikalsiche Zeitung. The conflict surrounding Viotti's appointment to the directorship of the Paris Opera continued into the beginning of the twentieth century. In speaking of Viotti's entrepreneurial endeavours, La Laurencie criticizes him for his ill-will, his acerbic pen, and his general bad humour. The role of theatre impresario inevitably involved stress. When Viotti applied for the directorship of the Opera, Margaret Chinnery had little reason to remain in England, and decided to make France her principal abode. Viotti had begun negotiations with the king's minister, or with some other highly placed member of the Government. A letter from Viotti's brother Andre to the 'incomparable amica' shows that he and another friend, M. de Lausac, had been given the task of finding a suitable country house for Margaret and Viotti.
