Massimilla Doni

"Massimilla Doni" is a short story by the famed French writer and playwright, Honoré de Balzac. Massimilla Doni is a true love song to Rossini's music, to the city of Venice, to the Italian art of living, to Italian aristocrats' elegant simplicity in going to the opera not to see and be seen but to listen and be moved by music. A Frenchman happens to find himself in the box of Massimilla Doni, duchess of Caetano, and is received by her without pretension and with all friendliness, receiving a true education in lyric opera. The ensuing love affair serves as a thread through a text exclusively concentrated on music and lyric opera, the description of the world of music-lovers, the atmosphere of Venice and a portrait of its main character Massimilla.