ge his high courage and good words. Meanwhile the windows
of Diemuth's chamber begin to gleam faintly; Diemuth and Kunrad have
fulfilled the law of love and all at once, the flames of the bonfires
leap up and the windows and streets are again aglow with the light,
that is given back to the city.

HOFFMANN'S TALES.

A phantastic Opera in three acts by JULES BARBIER.

Music by JACQUES OFFENBACH.

In this opera the composer far surpasses all his other compositions.
It is his swan's song, for he composed it in the summer of 1880 and he
died in October of the same year after having given his best to the
world, a true work of genius, so full of grace, of delicate feeling and
of phantastic loveliness, that nobody can hear it without being
captivated by its sweetness.

The libretto is taken from three different tales of E. Th. A. Hoffmann,
who was not only an author and a poet, but a musician and composer
worthy of note.

His weird tales were much read in the beginning of the last century.

The first scene, a prologue, is laid in Luther's famous wine-cellar in
Nuremberg.

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The hero of the opera, Hoffmann himself is there, drinking with a
number of gay young students, his friends. He is in a despondent mood
and when urged by his companions to tell them the reason of his
depression, he declares himself ready to relate the story of his three
love adventures, while his friends sit round a bowl of flaming strong
punch.

Now the scene changes and the curtain rises on the first act. We find
Hoffmann in Spalanzani's house. This man is a famous physiologist, and
Hoffmann has entered his house as his pupil in order to make the
acquaintance of the professor's beautiful daughter Olympia, whom he has
seen at a distance.

This daughter is nothing more than an automaton, that has been
manufactured by Spalanzani and his friend, the wizard Coppelius. This
doll can sing, dance and speak like a human being. Spalanzani hopes to
become rich by means of this clever work of art. As half of Olympia
(this is the doll's name), belongs to Coppelius, Spalanzani buys her
from him, paying him by a draft on the Jew Elias, though he knows him
to be bankrupt.--Hoffmann has been persuaded by Coppelius to purchase a
pair of spectacles, through which he looks at Olympia, and taking her
for a lovely living maiden falls violently in love with her.

Spalanzani now gives a grand entertainment, at which he presents his
daughter Ol