n alcove. Faust sings a beautiful aria ("Dai
campi, dai prati"), and then, placing the Bible on a lectern, begins
to read. The sight of the book brings Mephistopheles out with a
shriek; and, questioned by Faust, he reveals his true self in a
massive and sonorous aria ("Son lo spirito"). He throws off his
disguise, and appears in the garb of a knight, offering to serve Faust
on earth if he will serve the powers of darkness in hell. The compact
is made, as in the first act of Gounod's "Faust;" and the curtain
falls as Faust is about to be whisked away in Mephistopheles's cloak.

The second act opens in the garden, with Faust (under the name of
Henry), Marguerite, Mephistopheles, and Martha, Marguerite's mother,
strolling in couples. The music, which is of a very sensuous
character, is descriptive of the love-making between Faust and
Marguerite, and the sarcastic passion of Mephistopheles for Martha. It
is mostly in duet form, and closes with a quartet allegretto ("Addio,
fuggo"), which is very characteristic. The scene then suddenly changes
to the celebration of the Witches' Sabbath on the summits of the
Brocken, where, amid wild witch choruses, mighty dissonances, and
weird incantation music, Faust is shown a vision of the sorrow of
Marguerite. It would be impossible to select special numbers from this
closely interwoven music, excepting perhaps the song ("Ecco il mondo")
which Mephistopheles sings when the witches, after their incantation,
present him with a globe of glass which he likens to the earth.

The third act opens in a prison, where Marguerite is awaiting the
penalty for murdering her babe. The action is very similar to that of
the last act of Gounod's "Faust." Her opening aria ("L' altra notte a
fondo al maro") is full of sad longings for the child and insane
moanings for mercy. Faust appeals to her to fly with him, and they
join in a duet of extraordinary sensuous beauty blended with pathos
("lontano, lontano"). Mephistopheles urges Faust away as the day
dawns, and pronounces her doom as she falls and dies, while the
angelic chorus resounding in the orchestra announces her salvation.

In the fourth act a most abrupt change is made, both in a dramatic and
musical sense. The scene changes to the "Night of the Classical
Sabbath" on the banks of the Peneus, amid temples, statues, flowers,
and all the loveliness of nature in Greece. The music also changes
into the pure, sensuous Italian style. Faust, still with