"We were last night surprised, delighted, enchanted: and such were the feelings of all who witnessed the performance. The repeated plaudits with which the theatre rung were unequivocal, unaffected bursts of laughter. The best compliment that can be paid to the merit of the company was the unbroken attention that was yielded throughout the entire performance, except that every now and then it was interrupted by judiciously bestowed marks of applause, which were simultaneously given from all parts of the house. In one respect the exhibition excelled all that we have ever witnessed in any of our theatres--the whole troupe were almost equally excellent: nor was there one whose exertions to fill the part allotted to him did not essentially contribute to the success of the piece. "Signor Garcia indulges in a florid style of singing: with his fine voice, fine taste, admirable ear, and brilliancy of execution, we could not be otherwise than delighted.... Signorina Garcia's voice is what is denominated a fine contra-alto"--the gentleman is nothing if not correct, while we trace in the next words the unquestionable fact that he has been comparing notes with our "scientific" friend of 'The Albion.' "Her science and skill are such as to enable her to run over every tone and semitone with an ease and grace that cost apparently no effort." The sentence reads for all the world like a twentieth-century eulogy of an ardent motorist, if we substitute for tone and semitone the words woman and child. He concludes with a vivid little sketch of Maria Garcia as she was at the age of seventeen:-- "Her person is about the middle height, slightly _embonpoint_; her eyes dark, arch, and expressive; and a playful smile is almost constantly the companion of her lips. She was the magnet who attracted all eyes and won all hearts." This was Manuel Garcia's operatic _début_: it was not his first appearance before the public, for, as we have seen, he had already been singing previously at several concerts. It has been asserted by some that his _début_ in opera was made in Paris in the preceding year, but he himself declared this was untrue; while his sister, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, has stated most definitely that it took place in New York. His voice was never powerful: he had sung with charm as a boy, and when his voice broke it developed into high baritone--not tenor, as has been asserted by many. The latter mistake probably originated in the fact that sometimes, as will be related later, he undertook the tenor parts when his father felt indisposed; but on these occasions he always altered the melody of the higher passages to suit his baritone voice.