But in Italy, even at the time when such wonders were being effected in the way of stage decorations, the music of an opera was still its prime attraction; indeed, there were theatres for operas and theatres for spectacular dramas, and it is a mistake to attempt the union of the two in any great excellence, inasmuch as the one naturally interferes with and diverts attention from the other. Of Venice and its music, in the days when grand hunts, charges of cavalry, triumphal processions in which hundreds of horsemen took part, and ships traversing the ocean, and proceeding full sail to the discovery of America were introduced on to the stage;[29] of Venice and its music even at this highly decorative period, St. Evrémond has given us a brief but very satisfactory account in the following doggrel:-- "A Venise rien n'est égal: Sept opéras, le carneval; Et la merveille, l'excellence, Point de chœurs et jamais de danse, Dans les maisons, souvent concert, Où tout se chante à livre ouvert." The operatic chorus, as has already been observed, is an invention claimed by the French[30]; on the other hand, from the very foundation of the Académie Royale, the French rendered their Operas ridiculous by introducing _ballets_ into the middle of them. We shall find Rousseau calling attention to this absurd custom which still prevails at the Académie, where if even _Fidelio_ was to be produced, it would be considered necessary to "enliven" one or more of the scenes with a _divertissement_--so unchanging and unchangeable are the revolutionary French in all that is futile. [Sidenote: THE OPERA AT VIENNA.]