Episode notes
When the Cats Ran the Opera House, by Nick A. Shishkov. The complete audiobook, narrated by Benedetto.
Part of The Dog You Chose series — the prequel to Opera of the Loyal Heart: The Canine Opera House.
Beneath Paris, in the years when the city still left its doors open to the night, the cats built an empire of music: a Parliament, ministries of wake-up operations and human navigation, and a Grand Opera House raised in secret under the streets. This is the story of how they founded it, how prestige replaced purpose, and how the music was very nearly lost — told complete and unabridged, exactly as written.
Chapters: 0:00:10 Series Preface 0:03:45 Introduction 0:10:15 Act One Introduction 0:12:37 Chapter 1: The Secret Elevator Beneath Paris 0:19:46 Chapter 2: Parliament of the Grand Feline Empire 0:25:17 Chapter 3: The Ministry of Wake-Up Operations 0:33:46 Chapter 4: The Department of Human Navigation 0:38:22 Chapter 5: The Founding of the Grand Opera House 0:43:21 Chapter 6: The Golden Performance 0:49:43 Act Two Introduction — Prestige Replaces Purpose 0:53:26 Chapter 7: The First Necessary Committee 0:59:43 Chapter 8: The Balcony Allocation Policy 1:04:53 Chapter 9: The Ministry of Approved Voices 1:13:15 Chapter 10: The Workers Beneath the Stage 1:17:46 Chapter 11: The Edited Archives 1:24:34 Chapter 12: The Night of Perfect Applause 1:30:58 Act Three Introduction — Collapse, Resistance, and Restoration 1:33:45 Chapter 13: The Morning the Music Stopped 1:40:03 Chapter 14: Those Who Still Knew How 1:44:20 Chapter 15: The Founders' Charter 1:55:17 Chapter 16: The Revolution Beneath the Stage 2:03:42 Chapter 17: The Last Session of Parliament 2:11:40 Chapter 18: The First Honest Performance 2:16:03 Intermission Appendix 2:20:54 Historical Timeline 2:23:38 Author's Clarification 2:24:34 Author's Note 2:26:32 For Timothy
Music: instrumental interludes between chapters drawn from the author's own LuxNoir song library; the narration bed alternates two instrumentals, L'ascenseur secret and Pluie sur le Quai.
LuxNoir · The Dog You Chose series