These operas had sprung into _sudden_
popularity, whereas "Fidelio," "Euryanthe," "Lohengrin," and
"Tannhaeuser," which for years had to fight for every inch of ground,
are now masters of the situation, and gaining in popularity every
year. And this brings us to the second lesson taught by the history of
the opera--that the works that thus had to _fight_ their way into the
hearts of the public are the immortal operas that are sure to gain
more and more favor as years go by. Moreover, the statistics of German
opera-houses show that Wagner's operas, from the "Flying Dutchman" to
the "Nibelung's Ring," have been gaining in popularity and frequency
of repetition, year by year, with a constancy that might almost be
expressed with mathematical exactness by means of a _crescendo_: <.
And we are by no means at the biggest end of the _crescendo_ yet. For
there are scores of cities where Wagner would be even more popular
than he is, were it not for the woful rarity of competent dramatic
singers and conductors.
There is, therefore, no hope for the _Italianissimi_, who sigh for
their maccaroni arias and their "Ernani" and "Gazza Ladra" soup.
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