Why? Because a number of years ago he attended a
wretched performance in Italian of "Lohengrin" which bored him! I
believe there are many like him in New York.
Mr. Carl Rosa, in an article which appeared in _Murray's Magazine_ a
year ago, remarks on this topic: "An Englishman, once bored [at the
opera] will with difficulty be made to return; and this is the reason
why light opera, opera bouffe, and burlesque have their advantage in
this country. They are so easy to digest after dinner." And again:
"There is no doubt that opera is, to some extent, an acquired taste;
but the taste, once imparted, grows rapidly. From personal experience
I know that _some of my best supporters had to be dragged to the opera
at first_, and induced to sit it through."
In these remarks lies a valuable hint to the lovers of German opera.
The most important thing to do, if opera is to be permanently
retained, is to _enlarge the operatic public_. This can only be done
by means of a concerted action of all admirers of the opera. Let them
keep on, with "damnable iteration," to drum into their friends' heads
the fact that if they will only make up their minds to attend one good
opera _three or four times in succession_ they will become devoted
admirers of it the rest of their lives.
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