# A response to Edmund St. Austell's post, 'Agustarello Affre'



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

http://charlottefigleaf.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/a-response-to-edmund-st-austells-post.html

The full post is in the link above, as is another link to the original post which inspired it.

I've felt so disgusted with myself as a writer- both for the writing itself and for the ignorance behind it- that I've done little research and less writing of late. The urge to communicate finally came upon me when I had something to say so urgent that saying it in an adequately eloquent and well-informed way seemed of little importance compared with the need to just get the darned words out!

And, my tablet has finally really, truly died. There was a huge amount of research on it, some backed up, some not. There's a lesson in there somewhere, beyond the stonkingly obvious one that everything important should be backed up: some of the stuff I lost, I had not properly looked through, and now I may never get the chance. My perverse strain of perfectionism, which leads to even more perverse procrastination, means that a very important letter which may not be replaceable will forever go unread, because when I had it, I was afraid of translating it badly. Here's hoping the dealer who sold it has kept a copy- and that if I get hold of it again, I will get right on to it and not wait for an IT disaster to destroy a valuable piece of history!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Wrong? Not if we're told it's the party gag it is. Adolescent and stupid? Yes. Fake is fake. I don't need to hear any of it. Who does?


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

.............................................


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Hoping you'll start again this year, and I'm booking myself in as your reader!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Ingélou;bt3183 said:


> Hoping you'll start again this year, and I'm booking myself in as your reader!


That is so sweet of you, Ingelou! If I can write half as well as you do, I'll be very happy! :tiphat:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Thanks for reading my blog! You know, I really long to be able to return the favour....


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Hey - I missed this fantastic article that you published on 11th February. I am so sorry! My excuse is that John was very ill during this time.

But now that I've read it, I think it's very interesting. I don't know anything about this subject, so I am treating it just as a narrative - but it really engages me, and I was touched by the story of his 'deathbed miracle'. I am hoping that you will post some more articles. I think more people on TC ought to know about this - have you pm-ed your opera Friends who can give you more knowledgeable feedback? 

Anyway, well done, you! :tiphat:
Bravo! Encore! :clap:


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I read the article too and enjoyed it. Keep on writing, this was excellent. :tiphat:


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Thanks very much for the positive comments, and also sorry about all the whining. 

Thanks to a computer repair person of genius (Dave of DG Electronics, Tring :tiphat the lost data has been miraculously recovered, and the tablet fixed for the cost of a nearly-new battery- £20. The letter is now backed up properly and can be read when I feel better able to tackle crabbed 19th century handwriting in French. It's quite important, as it reveals Affre's real feelings about his American tour, and it's the only document I've seen in which he signs his unusual forename name in full, thus settling the vexed question of how it should be spelled. (I bet you all can hardly wait for this information to be revealed. :lol If I was a drinking person I would break open the champagne- as it is, I will settle for feeling immense gratitude to my friends here, and of course my new hero Dave.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Ingélou;bt3332 said:


> Hey - I missed this fantastic article that you published on 11th February. I am so sorry! My excuse is that John was very ill during this time.
> 
> But now that I've read it, I think it's very interesting. I don't know anything about this subject, so I am treating it just as a narrative - but it really engages me, and I was touched by the story of his 'deathbed miracle'. I am hoping that you will post some more articles. I think more people on TC ought to know about this - have you pm-ed your opera Friends who can give you more knowledgeable feedback?
> 
> ...


 Thank you so much for your kind words! Although you say you don't know much about the singers of this period (not surprisingly, as turn of the century French singers are now at the obscure end of what's already a very niche interest) it's very interesting to have a Catholic perspective on the 'miracle'. I may try to hunt down the original letter written by Affre's daughter, from which The Record Collector published that tantalizing extract in the issue following her original article.

I'm reluctant to bother the knowledgeable opera guys on here, as I do that enough already! Maybe when I have some more blog posts to my name, I could send them a link.


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