Louis Véron became director of the Académie Royale de Musique in 1831 and managed it «à ses risques, périls et fortune». It had been poorly managed in the Restoration period with too rapid a turnover of directors, much waste and many abuses. With great determination and flair, Véron immediately initiated substantial changes in order to cut costs and raise receipts. The great success of Robert le Diable, both artistically and financially, was pivotal to his own success and he did indeed make a fortune. In so doing, however, he was too single-minded and fell out with all the State authorities. He failed to keep them informed and too often breached the obligations in his Cahier des charges. He resigned in 1835, with eighteen months of his six-year concession still to run.

The Author: John Drysdale, born in 1936, studied at Oxford University and then qualified as a chartered accountant in Scotland. He joined a merchant bank in 1966, and his career included coverage of the Far East and Middle East. Having retired as a director in 1996, a life-long interest in music was extended through a Ph. D. at the University of Southampton. He is currently chairman of the Open University Foundation and a director of Garsington Opera.