Autograph letter signed.

4to. 1 p. To a Mr. Janin, probably the writer and critic Jules Janin, promising him the reservation of an opera box at every premiere or at least at the second show if not otherwise possible: "Vous ne doutez pas, mon cher ami, du plaisir que j'eprouve à saisir quelque service de vous etre agréable, vous qui avez toujours été si aimable pour moi. Tenez donc pour certain que toutes les fois qu'à ma premiere representation il ne me sera pas physiquement impossible de vous reserver une loge, une loge vous sera réservé. S'il arrivait, par hazard, que les exigences des auteurs [.] dans l'impossibilité de le faire, je vous en donnerai avis d'avance en me réservant de vous dedommager à la seconde representation; mais cette exception sera, je l'espère, bien rare si jamais elle se presente [.]". - The letter probably dates to the beginning of Pillet's controversial term as director of the Paris Opera in 1840. Pillet was a political appointee with little experience and had conflicted relationships with several important artists such as Wagner, Scribe, and Meyerbeer. When Verdi declined to work with Pillet in 1847 and public pressure was mounting, his former co-director Henri Duponchel, who had left on bad terms, was reinstalled and Pillet was soon forced to step down. - On stationery with letterhead of the Paris Opera "Académie Royale de Musique". Traces of former mounting and two tears.