Notorious - and highly popular - because of its supposed immorality, Daudet's semi-autobiographical novel "Sapho" (1884) became the basis of Massenet's opera of the same name and has given rise to a number of films, including "Inspiration with Greta Garbo". Meeting at a party thrown by the sculptor Caoudal, the young Jean Gaussin and the artist's model Fanny LeGrand (known as Sappho) embark on a doomed love affair.