_role_ of _Siegfried_ in the last drama of the Tetralogy, as well as that of _Siegmund_ in the second. Thanks to this mistake, New Yorkers had the privilege of hearing Niemann's _debut_ in this _role_--at the age of fifty-seven, an age when most tenors have retired on their pensions. Three artists are included in the present company at the Metropolitan whom Mr. Stanton could not dispense with under any circumstances. One of these is Herr Fischer, who, now that Scaria is no more, is beyond comparison the finest dramatic bass on the stage. No Italian could have a more mellow and sonorous voice, and his method has all the conscientiousness, passion, and distinctness of enunciation that characterize the German style. His _Wotan_ and his _Hans Sachs_, especially, are marvels of operatic impersonation. Herr Alvary, the second of the vocalists who unite Italian with German merits, is a young singer who has a great future before him, if his _Siegfried_, a most realistic and powerful impersonation, may be argued from. And as for the third of these artists--Lilli Lehmann--her equal can hardly to-day be found on the operatic stage. It is very characteristic of the late Intendant of the Berlin theatres--Herr von Huelsen (who waited nine years before he accepted "Lohengrin" for performance, and afterward repeated the same _faux pas_ with the Nibelung Trilogy)--that he confined Fraeulein Lehmann for years to subordinate _roles_. Indeed, although she had acquired considerable fame abroad, it may be said that her real career did not begin till she came to New York. Here her rare merits were at once recognized, and instead of resting on her laurels, she has grown more admirable as an actress and singer every year. Her voice has a sensuous beauty that is matchless, and no other prima donna, except Materna, has emotion in her voice so deep and genuine as that which moves us in Lehmann's _Isolde_ and _Bruennhilde_.