The friends will finally
consent, in pure self-defence, to try the experiment; and in three
cases out of four they will become converted and admit that German
operatic music is indeed a thing of beauty and a joy forever.
There is at present in New York a considerable number of musical
Mugwumps, persons who formerly doted on Italian opera, but who now
find it tiresome after hearing German opera. The distinguished English
psychologist, Mr. James Sully, incidentally speaks of his experiences
in regard to Wagner's operas, in his work on "Sensation and
Intuition." "Although," he says, "I went to the first performance
decidedly prejudiced against the noisy _Zukunftsmusik_, I found that
after patient study of these operas I became so susceptible of their
high dramatic beauties that I lost much of my relish for the older
Italian opera, which began to appear highly unnatural. I heard from
other cultivated Germans--among others from Professor Helmholtz--that
they had undergone quite a similar change of opinion with respect to
these operas."
Who, on the other hand, has ever heard of a renegade Wagnerite? Such
an animal does not exist, and if a specimen could be found, it would
pay to exhibit him in a dime museum.
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