During an auction of manuscripts from the Aristophil collection at Drouot in Paris, the original score of Henri Dutilleux’s Métaboles has been acquired by the National Library of France (BNF) for a price of 143,000 euros, a press release says. The BNF also acquired Olivier Messiaen’s L’Ascension manuscript for € 188,500, as well as Jacques Ibert’s Escales.
The highest bid, 650,000 euros, was registered for a manuscript of the first draft of Robert Schumann’s Scenes of Faust.
Surprisingly, the first version of a scene from the last act of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro was not sold. It was estimated between 400,000 and 500,000 euros.