se clash with the original
character of the air itself.

"That the introduction of such ornaments has caused an outcry, is not
surprising. We should remember, however, that the _Freischuetz_ was
written at a period when, in certain places, the composer left the
field entirely open to the singer, permitted him to make such changes
as he might deem necessary. It must not be thought that in so doing
the interpreter corrects the composer: he simply seeks to express, to
the utmost of his abilities, the intention of the author.

"The operas of Bellini, of Rossini, and, in general, of all the
Italian masters, are full of these intentional gaps (_lacunes_) which
were filled in by the singers. Nay, in the earliest days of the
Neapolitan school, still greater liberty was allowed; the recitatives
were all improvised by the executants, and were not even noted down.
Each singer made his own, which the _maestro al cembalo_ accompanied
with a few simple chords.

"In the cavatina in _Norma_, each _cantatrice_ introduces her own
changes on the recurrence of the principal theme, and the public
applauds. Why then this outcry against the same procedure in _Der
Freischuetz_?

"_That this custom or practice might lead to great abuse and that it
is necessary to uproot it gradually, is our opinion._ But this radical
reform can be realized only in forthcoming works; those of the ancient
school ought to be interpreted by following the conventions which the
composer himself has respected.

"That the _changements_ written by M. de La Madelaine for the air of
the _Freischuetz_ are permissible, is proved by the fact that Weber
himself has sanctioned and approved them, as, if need be, a great
number of contemporaries can attest." (FRANCK-MARIE.)

Whoever has had the good fortune to hear Mme. Marcella Sembrich in the
role of Amina, in Bellini's _La Sonnambula_, will have heard an
excellent example of remarkable technical skill or virtuosity, with
irreproachable taste regulating its display. The ornaments and changes
used by her in the _rondo finale_, "_Ah, non giunge_," are models of
their genre. What else could be expected of an artist so gifted as to
be able to perform the lesson-scene in Rossini's _Il Barbiere_
(introducing therein the air with variations by Proch) in Italian; and
in the course of the same scene sing, in German, "_Ich liebe dich_,"
by Grieg, and play the Andante and Rondo Russe, for violin, by de
Beriot, and a valse by Chop