Early that year, my dear friend Enrique Granados arrived from Barcelona to attend the world premiere of his opera, Goyescas. (…) When we met in New York he was very nervous about the approaching performance. Granados was like a child about his music. He really attached no importance to it- it was just something that poured out of him- and he always questioned its value. As with his first opera twenty years before when we were both youths in Barcelona, he asked me if I would assist him with the rehearsals. He was so tense during the rehearsals at the Metropolitan Opera House that he never said a word except when someone addressed a question to him. He didn’t speak English, and so when one of the musicians would ask him what interpretation he would prefer in some portion of the work, I would translate the question. Granados would answer, “Just tell them to play whatever way they think best.” It was typical of him. He felt that musicians playing his works should decide for themselves what would be the best rendition. The music was of course marvellous, and I tried to relive my friend’s anxiety by telling him what an important success the opera would be. On the opening night he saw for himself! The opera received a tumultuous ovation, one of the most amazing I have ever witnessed. People in the audience stood and shouted and wept. << less