country-seat near Fontainebleau he is at present staying. As soon as
St. Phar hears the name of this lady, his hoarseness is gone and all
sing their best. We gather from this scene, that Mme. Latour has
succeeded in enthralling St. Phar; he has an interview with her, and,
won by his protestations of love, she consents to marry him.

St. Phar, not wishing to commit bigamy, begs his friend Bijou to
perform the marriage-ceremony in a priest's garb, but Mme. Latour locks
him in her room, along with Bourdon, the second leader of the chorus,
while a real priest unites the pair for the second time.

St. Phar enters the room in high spirits, when his companions, beside
themselves with fear, tell him that he has committed bigamy. While
they are in mortal terror of being hanged, Mme. Latour enters in her
former shape as Madeleine, and blowing out the candle, torments St.
Phar, assuming now the voice of Mme. Latour, now that of
Madeleine.--After having sent her fickle husband into an abyss of
unhappiness and fear, the Marquis de Corcy, who had himself hoped to
wed the charming widow, appears with the police to imprison the
luckless St. Phar, who already considers himself as good as hanged, and
in imagination sees his first wife Madeleine rejoicing over his
punishment. But he {277} has been made to suffer enough and at the
last moment Madelaine explains everything, and Chapelou obtains her
pardon.

PRECIOSA.

A Drama in four acts by ALEXANDER WOLFF.

Musical accompaniment by CHARLES MARIA VON WEBER.

Though Preciosa is not an opera, we may feel justified in admitting it
into our collection, as the music, which Weber wrote to it has alone
given celebrity to Wolff's drama, which would otherwise have long been
forgotten.

This musical composition is justly called one of the German nation's
jewels, and it shows all the best qualities of Weber's rich music. It
was written after the Freischuetz and done in the incredibly short space
of nine days, and owed its success principally to the really national
coloring of melody, which has made some of its songs so popular.

The libretto is well done, the subject both attracting and interesting
to the hearer. The scene is laid in Spain. The first act introduces
us to Madrid and takes us into the house of a noble Spaniard, named Don
Francesco de Carcano. His son, Don Alonzo has fallen violently in love
with a Bohemian girl, called Preciosa, whose beauty, virtue and charm