power which is
characteristic of our greatest novelists, of infusing the breath of life
into his characters. We rise from seeing a performance of 'Le Nozze,'
with no consciousness of the art employed, but with a feeling of having
assisted in an actual scene in real life. It is not until afterwards
that the knowledge is forced upon us that this convincing presentment of
nature is the result of a combination of the purest inspiration of
genius with the highest development of art. Mozart knew everything that
was to be known about music, and 'Le Nozze di Figaro,' in spite of its
supreme and unapproachable beauty, is really only the legitimate outcome
of two centuries of steady development. Perhaps the most striking
feature of the work is the absolute consistency of the whole. In spite
of the art with which the composer has Individualised his characters,
there is no clashing between the different types of music allotted to
each. As for the music itself, if the exuberant youthfulness of 'Die
Entfuehrung' has been toned down to a serener flow of courtliness, we are
compensated for the loss by the absence of the mere _bravura_ which
disfigures many of the airs in the earlier work. The dominant
characteristic of the music is that wise and tender sympathy with the
follies and frailties of mankind, which moves us with a deeper pathos
than the most terrific tragedy ever penned. It is perhaps the highest
achievement of the all-embracing genius of Mozart that he made an
artificial comedy of intrigue, which is trivial when it is not squalid,
into one of the great music dramas of the world.

Mozart's next work, 'Don Giovanni' (October 29, 1787), was written for
Prague, a city which had always shown him more real appreciation than
Vienna. It was adapted by Da Ponte from a Spanish tale which had already
been utilised by Moliere. Although, so far as incident goes, it is not
perhaps an ideal libretto, it certainly contains many of the elements of
success. The characters are strongly marked and distinct, and the
supernatural part of the story, which appealed particularly to Mozart's
imagination and indeed determined him to undertake the opera, is managed
with consummate skill.

Don Giovanni, a licentious Spanish nobleman, who is attracted by the
charms of Donna Anna, the daughter of the Commandant of Seville, breaks
into her palace under cover of night, in the hope of making her his own.
She resists him and calls for help. In the struggle