enry L. Higginson.

"The Music Teachers' National Association" was also formed in 1876, and
while it is not in the public eye in the way that opera and concerts
are, yet its influence throughout the land has been very marked, and has
led to state associations, with their annual conferences, and exchanges
of views among teachers.

In the concert world we find the names of several
celebrities,--Rubinstein had visited America in 1872, and Hans von Buelow
in 1875, Moritz Rosenthal in 1888, and Godowski in 1890. We find also
among the noted pianists who were first known here in this period
Arabella Goddard, Rafael Joseffy, Fanny Bloomfield-Zeisler and Josef
Hofmann.

Some noted violinists also visited America, August Wilhelmj in 1878,
Ovide Musin, Teresina Tua, and in 1888 Fritz Kreisler. But perhaps the
most noteworthy event was the appearance of Maud Powell, an American
woman, whose career placed her in the front rank of violinists, and has
but recently ended with her death.

Of singers there were a great many, but most of them appeared in opera.
Of the Americans who gained international reputation were Emma Abbott,
Alwina Valleria (of Baltimore), Lillian Nordica (Norton), Emma Nevada
(Wixom), and Charles R. Adams.

Among the European celebrities who visited America were Madame
Rudersdorff, Etelka Gerster, Scalchi, Marcella Senibrich, Amalia
Materna, and Lilli Lehmann, also Alberto Stagno, Max Alvary, Albert
Niemann, Francesco Tarnagno.

This leads us to a short review of opera, and as New York City was the
headquarters from which numerous companies issued to charm the rest of
the country, a review of New York is practically a review of opera for
the whole country.

From 1850 to 1875 opera is said to have "flourished on failure" chiefly
under Maretzek and Strakosch. Also, opera meant Italian opera, or at
least opera in Italian. There were spasmodic efforts to promote German
opera, chiefly by Adolf Neuendorff, who managed the German Theatre in
New York City from 1872 to 1883. In 1876 a Wagner Festival was given in
New York, and in 1878 there was a short and unsuccessful season given by
the Pappenheim Opera Company, during which "Rienzi" was sung for the
first time in America. Theodore Thomas did much to prepare the way by
playing excerpts from the Wagner operas at his concerts, but Dr. Leopold
Damrosch in 1884 set on foot a movement which, during the next few
years, brought to America several of the greatest German