e and her sufferings, conquers her own pride and
consents to the union of her daughter with Tonio. Sulpice and his
soldiers burst out into loud shouts of approbation, and the highborn
guests retire silently and disgusted.

DER FLIEGENDE HOLLAeNDER.

(THE FLYING DUTCHMAN.)

Romantic Opera in three acts by WAGNER.

This fine opera is Wagner's second work, which he composed in direst
need, when living at Paris with his young wife. The songs, which so
well imitate the hurricane and the howling of the ocean, he himself
heard during an awful storm at sea. The whole opera is exceedingly
characteristic and impressive. Wagner arranged the libretto himself,
as he did for all his operas which succeeded this one. He found the
substance of it in an old legend, which dates from the 16th century.
The flying Dutchman is a sort of wandering Jew, condemned to sail
forever on the seas, until he has found a woman, whose love to him is
faithful unto death.

In the first act we find ourselves on the high seas. Daland, a
Norwegian skipper, has met with {85} several misfortunes on his way
home, and is compelled to anchor on a deserted shore. There he finds
the flying Dutchman, who vainly roves from sea to sea to find death and
with it peace. His only hope is dooms day. He has never found a
maiden faithful to him, and he knows not how often and how long he has
vainly tried to be released from his doom. Once, every seven years, he
is allowed to go on shore, and take a wife. This time has now come
again, and hearing from Daland, that he has a daughter, sweet and pure,
he begins to hope once more, and offers all his wealth to the father
for a shelter under the Norwegian's roof and for the hand of his
daughter Senta.--Daland is only too glad to accept for his child, what
to him seems an immense fortune and so they sail home together.

In the second act we find Senta in the spinning-room. The servants of
the house are together spinning and singing. Senta is amongst them,
but her wheel does not turn, she is dreamily regarding an old picture.
It is that of the flying Dutchman, whose legend so deeply touches her,
that she has grown to love its hero, without having in reality seen him.

Senta has a wooer already in the person of Erick the hunter, but she
does not care much for him. With deep feeling she sings to the
spinning maidens the ballad of the doomed man, as she has heard it from
Mary, her nurse:

An old captain wa