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Sometimes, as in “September 2006,” the road is clear and the progress steady: about a half tone every 20 seconds, to span two octaves.

Without the Paris premiere’s first act, in which Carlos and Élisabeth meet and fall in love, the opera now begins in the monastery at San Yuste, haunted by the ghost — or perhaps the living incognito presence — of the old emperor Charles V. As the chorus sings of “l’auguste empereur” who has become ashes and dust — “que cendre et que poussière” — Verdi’s music matches, in its rising half tone, the graduated opening and closing of the French vowels.

Wispelwey has done it at 397 hertz, a full tone below the modern A tuning, and a semitone, or half tone, below the usual baroque A which is 415 hertz.

Another glance toward the window, then lowering his voice an additional half tone, and favoring me with a knowing wink, he said: "Have you heard anything concerning him?"

Selecting a common half tone cut which measured exactly 100 � 69 mm. and dampening the sheets of paper to different degrees of wetness I proceeded to impress the cut on each sheet, using a common roller proof press.