ng sung. (This
is a real fact that I might prove by an amusing anecdote, were it not
too personal.) To this class of stockholders what difference can it
make whether they have German or Italian opera? They merely go to the
opera because it is a very fashionable thing to do so, and because the
ownership of an opera-box confers on them a social distinction almost
equal to an order, or a title of nobility, in foreign countries.

Many of the stockholders have converted the ante-rooms to their boxes
into luxurious parlors, into which they can retire and talk if the
music bores them. But, unfortunately, there are some black sheep among
them and their invited guests who do not make use of this privilege,
but give the rest of the audience the benefit of their conversational
accomplishments. The parquet often resents these interruptions, and
hisses lustily until quiet is restored. There are not a few lovers of
music who, although able to pay for parquet seats, frequent the upper
galleries for fear of being annoyed by the conversation in the boxes.
In the highest gallery the quiet of a tomb reigns supreme, and woe to
any one who comes late, or whispers, or turns the leaves of his score
too noisily: he is immediately pierced with a volley of indignant
hisses.

It must be admitted, however, that there is much less talking in the
opera-house at present than there was a few years ago. This difference
is especially noticeable on Wagner nights, and the change is simply
one of the numerous operatic reforms introduced by Wagner and his
followers. It must be borne in mind that in Italian opera conversation
frequently is not at all out of place, but is a factor of the
entertainment _recognized even by the composer_! Wagner brings out
this point clearly in the following remarks: "In Italian opera," he
says, "the public gives its attention only to the most brilliant
numbers sung by the popular prima donna or her vocal rival; the rest
of the opera it ignores almost entirely, and devotes the evening to
mutual visits in the boxes and loud conversation. This attitude of the
public led the composers of yore to confine their efforts at artistic
creation to the solo numbers referred to, and to fill up deliberately
all intermediate portions, the choruses and minor parts, with
commonplace and empty phrases that had no other purpose than that of
serving as noise to sustain the conversation of the audience."

That this is not an exaggerated statemen