metrical schemes--The poodle and the friar--A Polish dance in the
Rhine country--Gluck and Vestris--The scene on the Brocken--The
Classical Sabbath--Helen of Troy--A union of classic and romantic
art--First performance of Boito's opera in America, (footnote).

Chapter VIII "La Damnation de Faust"

Berlioz's dramatic legend--"A thing of shreds and patches"--Turned
into an opera by Raoul Gunsbourg--The composer's "Scenes from Faust"
--History of the composition--The Rakoczy March--Concert performances
in New York--Scheme of the work--The dance of the sylphs and the
aerial ballet--Dance of the will-o'-the-wisps--The ride to hell.

Chapter IX "La Traviata"

Familiarity with music and its effects--An experience of the
author's--Prelude to Verdi's last act--Expressiveness of some
melodies--Verdi, the dramatist--Von Bulow and Mascagni--How
"Traviata" came to be written--Piave, the librettist--Composed
simultaneously with "Il Trovatore,"--Failure of "La Traviata,"
--The causes--The style of the music--Dr. Basevi's view--Changes
in costuming--The opera succeeds--First performance in New York,
--A criticism by W. H. Fry--Story of the opera--Dumas's story and
harles Dickens--Controversy as a help to popular success.

Chapter X "Aida"

Popular misconceptions concerning the origin of Verdi's opera--The
Suez Canal and Cairo Opera-house--A pageant opera--Local color--
The entombment scene--The commission for the opera--The plot and