historical work was adopted and appeared on the stage with success, as
is well known. The historical method had no rival until _Robert le
Diable_ rather timidly brought back the legendary element which
triumphed later in the work of Richard Wagner.

In the meantime _Les Huguenots_ succeeded _Robert le Diable_ and for
half a century this was the bright particular star of historical opera.
Even now, although its traditions have largely been forgotten and
although its workmanship is rather inferior to that of a later time,
this memorable work nevertheless shines, like the setting sun,
surprisingly brilliantly. The several generations who admired this work
were not altogether wrong. There is no necessity to class this brilliant
success as a failure, because Robert Schumann, who knew nothing about
the stage, denied its worth. It is surprising that Berlioz's judgment
has not been set against Schumann's. Berlioz showed his enthusiasm for
_Les Huguenots_ in his famous treatise on instrumentation.

The great public is little interested in technical polemics and is
faithful to the old successes. Although little by little success has
come to operas based on legends, there still remains a taste for operas
with a historical background. This is not without a reason for as an
authoritative critic has said: "A historical drama may contain lyric
possibilities far greater than most of the poor, weak mythological
librettos on which composers waste their strength, fully persuaded that
by doing so they cause 'the holy spirit of Bayreuth to descend upon
them.'"

And they never would have dreamed of being mythological, if their god,
instead of turning to Scandinavian mythology, had followed his original
intention of dramatizing the exploits of Frederick Barbarossa. In his