The complete success, notwithstanding certain difficulties that have been referred to, of the first performance of the opera in this country, was duly chronicled in London, on the day following the event, in _The Times_. The notice states that the composer was called at the end and bowed his acknowledgments, from which it would appear that he was prevailed upon at least to appear on the fall of the curtain, although, by all accounts I have heard from those who took part in the performance, Puccini adopted the custom--followed, if we may believe certain traditions, by certain notable playwrights--of wandering up and down the streets until the _première_ was over. The writer of the notice in question places the work on a higher level than _Manon_, speaks of the highly dramatic intensity reached by simple means in the scenes between Mimi and Rodolfo, notices in the absence of set songs the Wagnerian method of continuous melody, and sums it up as a decided success gained by the beauty of its melody, the refinement of the music as a whole, the cleverness in the handling of the themes, and by the absence of clap-trap. The performance is spoken of as a genuine triumph, in spite of the leading tenor's hoarseness. [Illustration: PUCCINI IN "MORNING DRESS" (NATIONAL PEASANT COSTUME) AT TORRE DEL LAGO] [Illustration: PUCCINI WILD-FOWL SHOOTING ON THE LAKE AT TORRE DEL LAGO] VIII "TOSCA" With his next opera--for _Tosca_ is the only one of his works so entitled by the composer--Puccini made a rather curious reversal of the proceedings as compared with _La Bohème_, taking it from an Italian story treated from the French point of view. From the old world story of Murger, Puccini turned to a notable example of modern French stagecraft, in Sardou's drama of _La Tosca_. His librettists again were Giocosa and Illica, and they provided the composer with a strikingly apt presentation of the grim story; not one, perhaps, that lends itself altogether to musical expression, but one which certainly grips the attention and carries the hearer along. By _Tosca_, Puccini certainly sustained his now universal popularity made manifest by the preceding _La Bohème_. It was given first at the Costanzi Theatre, Rome, on January 14, 1900, conducted by Mugnone, and cast as follows: _Tosca_ DARCLÉE. _Cavaradossi_ DE MARCHI. _Scarpia_ GIRALDOIN. _Angelotti_ GALLI. _The Sacristan_ BORELLI. London saw it in the summer of the same year at Covent Garden, where it was given on July 12 with the following cast, Mancinelli being the conductor. _Tosca_ TERNINA. _Cavaradossi_ DE LUCIA. _Scarpia_ SCOTTI. _Angelotti_ DUFRICHE. _The Sacristan_ GILIBERT.