When Pelléas et Mélisande playwrite Maurice Maeterlinck learned that his mistress had not been cast for the role of Mélisande in the opera version, he challenged Claude Debussy to a duel, to be followed by a thrashing with his walking stick. According to contemporary sources, the mistress was a terrible singer. (The duel did not take place.)
source: Edward Lockspeiser, Debussy: His Life and Mind Vol 1 page 201
