l wreck the knight!"

And here Gambara improvised a _fantasia_ of his own on the bacchanalian
chorus, with ingenious variations, and humming the air in a melancholy
drone as if to express the secret sufferings he had known.

"Do you hear the heavenly lamentations of neglected love?" he said.
"Isabella calls to Robert above the grand chorus of knights riding forth
to the tournament, in which the _motifs_ of the second act reappear to
make it clear that the third act has all taken place in a supernatural
sphere. This is real life again. This chorus dies away at the approach
of the hellish enchantment brought by Robert with the talisman. The
deviltry of the third act is to be carried on. Here we have the duet
with the viol; the rhythm is highly expressive of the brutal desires of
a man who is omnipotent, and the Princess, by plaintive phrases, tries
to win her lover back to moderation. The musician has here placed
himself in a situation of great difficulty, and has surmounted it in the
loveliest number of the whole opera. How charming is the melody of the
_cavatina 'Grace pour toi!'_ All the women present understood it well;
each saw herself seized and snatched away on the stage. That part alone
would suffice to make the fortune of the opera. Every woman felt herself
engaged in a struggle with some violent lover. Never was music so
passionate and so dramatic.

"The whole world now rises in arms against the reprobate. This _finale_
may be criticised for its resemblance to that of _Don Giovanni_; but
there is this immense difference: in Isabella we have the expression of
the noblest faith, a true love that will save Robert, for he scornfully
rejects the infernal powers bestowed on him, while Don Giovanni persists
in his unbelief. Moreover, that particular fault is common to every
composer who has written a _finale_ since Mozart. The _finale_ to _Don
Giovanni_ is one of those classic forms that are invented once for all.

"At last religion wins the day, uplifting the voice that governs worlds,
that invites all sorrow to come for consolation, all repentance to be
forgiven and helped.

"The whole house was stirred by the chorus:

"Malheureaux on coupables
Hatez-vous d'accourir!

"In the terrific tumult of raving passions, the holy Voice would have
been unheard; but at this critical moment it sounds like thunder; the
divine Catholic Church rises glorious in light. And here I was amazed to
find that after such lavish