Sentence:  All these emotions were screwed up to new heights when , after acceptance and the <WSD>first</WSD> rehearsals , there ensued such a buzz of excitement among Parisian music lovers that Duclos had to come running to Rousseau to inform him that the news had reached the superintendent of the King 's amusements , and that he was now demanding that the work be offered first at the royal summer palace of Fontainebleau . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  preceding all others in time or space or degree