 When she asked with whom he might like to work, he mentioned that although he had known Augier in childhood, the latter had now become far more famous than he and would hardly care to risk working with someone with whom he had only played hoops.Viardot immediately told Gounod to seek out Augier and tell him that she would take the responsibility to sing the principal role in Gounod's opera, if Augier would write the poem.Gounod also says that Viardot recommended his opera to the director of the company, who at that time was Nestor Roqueplan.