On her return, fresh triumphs awaited her. After successfully impersonating Églé, in the _Thésée_ of Quinault, which had been set to music by Gossec, she replaced Rosalie Levasseur in the name-part in Gluck’s _Iphigénie en Tauride_ (March 10, 1782),[181] in which, the _Mercure_ declares that “she acquitted herself very well and deserved the praise which she received.” Next, she created the rôle of Laurette, in _l’Inconnue persécutée_, “with as much taste as intelligence,” and made an heroic, though unsuccessful, attempt to secure a favourable reception for the _Électre_ of her old master Lemoine, the one-time conductor of the Strasburg orchestra.
Not content with doing her utmost on the stage on her old friend’s behalf, Madame Saint-Huberty employed the influence she was beginning to possess in the _coulisses_ to compel the administration of the Opera to prolong the run of this very indifferent work, notwithstanding the unfavourable verdict of the public and the disastrous results such a course was likely to have upon the receipts. The administration resolved not to yield to such a preposterous demand, but, at the same time, unwilling to offend an actress who was becoming every day more necessary to them, had recourse to stratagem. They represented that they were perfectly willing to oblige Madame Saint-Huberty by continuing the representations of _Électre_; but, since the opera was not in itself a sufficient attraction to secure a full house, it would be advisable to wait for a few days, until the ever-popular ballet of _Ninette à la Cour_, in which Mlle. Guimard, it will be remembered, secured one of her greatest triumphs, could be given with it. Madame Saint-Huberty consented to the postponement, and the administration made use of the respite granted them to induce the Minister of the King’s Household, the supreme authority in matters concerning the Opera, “to order that the opera of _Électre_ should be absolutely withdrawn from the theatre.”[182]
In those days, it was the fashion at the Opera to frequently present entire pieces composed of acts extracted from various works. These performances, called “_Fragments_,” were very popular with the patrons of the theatre, since they constituted but little strain upon the imagination, while the variety of their subjects and music provided an agreeable change. On September 24, 1782, four “fragments” were performed at the Opera, the most important of which was a new act by Moline and Edelmann, entitled _Ariane dans l’Île de Naxos_. Madame Saint-Huberty, who played the part of Ariane, had always had a strong predilection in favour of historical accuracy in stage costume, and, on the advice of the painter Moreau, who held similar views and had designed the dresses for this opera, she resolved to make a move in the direction of reform.