_Tuesday, June 27._--_Faust_, in French. JEAN DE RESZKE was to have
been _Faust_, but the "vaulting ambition" of the eminent Polish
tenor led him to attempt a high jump with another Pole--the
leaping-pole--and whether he had not his compatriot well in hand,
or whether, "with love's light wings," _Romeo_ did _not_ manage to
"o'ertop" the highest note above the line, deponent sayeth not, but
this much is known, that he fell at the high jump, and, feeling the
pain first in the under part of his foot, and then in the leg, he
exclaimed, with _Hamlet_, "O my prophetic sole, my ankle!" the result
being that he appeareth not to-night as _Faust_. If Frere JEAN DE
RESZKE is going on by "leaps and bounds" in this manner, he will
be known as "Brother JOHN the Risky." Madame NORDICA happy as
_Marguerite_--at least she looked it, for even in the most tragic
scenes there is always a sweet smile on her dimpled cheeks. Mlle.
BAUERMEISTER makes a _Marta_ of herself as the merry old dame;
Mlle. GUERCIA, as _Siebel_, is a Siebeline mystery; LASSALLE, as
_Valentine_, pleases _la salle_; but Brother EDWARD "_prends le
gateau_" as _Mephistopheles_.
[Illustration: "O my prophetic sole, my ankle!"]
_Wednesday._--_Tristan und Isolde_, which may be rendered _Triste
'un und I solde-not-so-many-tickets-as-usual_, or _Triste 'un und I'm
Sold_. "The fourth of the WAGNER Cycle." If there are eight of them
then this is the Bi-Cycle, but there's more woe than weal in it, and
though extracts may be relished by the learned amateur, yet, as a
whole, WAGNER'S _Tristan_ does not attract our opera-going public.
* * * * *
MEM.--No Nursery of Music can possibly be complete without
"Leading-Strings."
* * * * *
[Illustration: ON TICK.
_Seedy Swell._ "I SAY, OLD CHAP, TELL US THE TIME. I'M SURE YOUR WATCH
GOES WELL."
_Second S. S._ "IT GOES BEAUTIFULLY. IT WENT SIX MONTHS AGO TO MY
UNCLE'S!"]
* * * * *