e rare beauties of "Tristan" or "Siegfried," went to the opera to
hear and judge for themselves. Of course, as everything was new to
them, they found it hard work to follow all the intricacies of the
plot and the music at the same time; hence, their verdict next day was
that German opera was "too heavy" for them. These persons cannot be
made to believe that if they would only repeat their visits, the labor
of listening would be reduced to a minimum and the pleasure increased
to enthusiasm. I know a man, one of the cleverest writers for the New
York press, a man who can afford to go to the opera every evening, and
who _does_ go when Meyerbeer's operas are given, but who absolutely
and stubbornly refuses to attend a Wagner performance at the
Metropolitan. Why? Because a number of years ago he attended a
wretched performance in Italian of "Lohengrin" which bored him! I
believe there are many like him in New York.

Mr. Carl Rosa, in an article which appeared in _Murray's Magazine_ a
year ago, remarks on this topic: "An Englishman, once bored [at the
opera] will with difficulty be made to return; and this is the reason
why light opera, opera bouffe, and burlesque have their advantage in
this country. They are so easy to digest after dinner." And again:
"There is no doubt that opera is, to some extent, an acquired taste;
but the taste, once imparted, grows rapidly. From personal experience
I know that _some of my best supporters had to be dragged to the opera
at first_, and induced to sit it through."

In these remarks lies a valuable hint to the lovers of German opera.
The most important thing to do, if opera is to be permanently
retained, is to _enlarge the operatic public_. This can only be done
by means of a concerted action of all admirers of the opera. Let them
keep on, with "damnable iteration," to drum into their friends' heads
the fact that if they will only make up their minds to attend one good
opera _three or four times in succession_ they will become devoted
admirers of it the rest of their lives. The friends will finally
consent, in pure self-defence, to try the experiment; and in three
cases out of four they will become converted and admit that German
operatic music is indeed a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

There is at present in New York a considerable number of musical
Mugwumps, persons who formerly doted on Italian opera, but who now
find it tiresome after hearing German opera. The distinguished Engl