Although Astruc was soon financially overextended, the first season was extraordinary. The theatre opened on April 2, 1913, with a gala concert featuring five of France's most renowned composers conducting their own works: Claude Debussy ("Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune"), Paul Dukas ("L'apprenti sorcier"), Gabriel Fauré ("La naissance de Vénus"), Vincent d'Indy ("Le camp" from "Wallenstein"), and Camille Saint-Saëns ("Phaeton" and excerpts from his choral work "La lyre et la harpe"). This was followed the next day with a performance of Hector Berlioz's opera "Benvenuto Cellini" conducted by Felix Weingartner which included a "dance spectacular" by Anna Pavlova. Later there was a series of concerts devoted to Beethoven conducted by Weingartner and featuring the pianists Alfred Cortot and Louis Diémer, and the soprano Lilli Lehmann. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam conducted by Willem Mengelberg gave two concerts: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the Paris premiere of Fauré's opera "Pénélope" (May 10).