tation, the crossing of the Red Sea moved the audience to
satirical laughter, which disconcerted the otherwise favorable reception
of the piece, and entirely spoiled the final effects. The manager was at
his Avit's end, till Tottola, the librettist, suggested a prayer for the
Israelites before and after the passage of the host through the cleft
waters. Rossini instantly seized the idea, and, springing from bed in
his night-shirt, wrote the music with almost inconceivable rapidity,
before his embarrassed visitors recovered from their surprise. The same
evening the magnificent _Dal tuo stellato soglio_ ("To thee, Great
Lord") was performed with the opera.

Let Stendhall, Rossini's biographer, tell the rest of the story: "The
audience was delighted as usual with the first act, and all went well
till the third, when, the passage of the Red Sea being at hand, the
audience as usual prepared to be amused. The laughter was just beginning
in the pit, when it was observed that Moses was about to sing. He began
his solo, the first verse of a prayer, which all the people repeat in
chorus after Moses. Surprised at this novelty, the pit listened and
the laughter entirely ceased. The chorus, exceedingly fine, was in the
minor. Aaron continues, followed by the people. Finally, Eleia addresses
to Heaven the same supplication, and the people respond. Then all fall
on their knees and repeat the prayer with enthusiasm; the miracle is
performed, the sea is opened to leave a path for the people protected
by the Lord. This last part is in the major. It is impossible to imagine
the thunders of applause that resounded through the house: one would
have thought it was coming down. The spectators in the boxes, standing
up and leaning over, called out at the top of their voices, '_Bello,
bello! O che hello!_', I never saw so much enthusiasm nor such a
complete success, which was so much the greater, inasmuch as the people
were quite prepared to laugh.... I am almost in tears when I think of
this prayer. This state of things lasted a long time, and one of its
effects was to make for its composer the reputation of an assassin,
for Dr. Cottogna is said to have remarked: 'I can cite to you more than
forty attacks of nervous fever or violent convulsions on the part of
young women, fond to excess of music, which have no other origin than
the prayer of the Hebrews in the third act, with its superb change of
key.'" Thus by a stroke of genius, a scene which