overture, though without any actual allusion, reminds us of that to "Figaro," but falls short of it in spirit and refinement. The merriment is interrupted by a tender andante 3-8, in which strings and wind instruments alternate, prefiguring the amorous emotions which are to have a place in the drama. The flourish is heard again, the curtain rises, and the andante is repeated in its main points, the instrumental movement serving as a foundation for the free motion of the voices. The different points are more sharply accented, and the hearer's enjoyment is intensified by the richer and more brilliant working out of the movement, which shows itself, as it were, in an altogether new light. The ensemble is inspired with cheerful humour, full of dramatic life, and showing distinctly Mozart's own art of giving independence and freedom to the voices and orchestra, as members of one perfect whole. The draft is worked out somewhat beyond the first design, the stringed instruments being almost written in full, and the principal entrances of the wind instruments at least indicated. We are thus enabled to form a sufficient idea of the movement, which, had it been completed, would have been so brilliant an introduction to the opera. Two airs are preserved in the customary sketch form--voices and bass entire, and detached indications for the violin. In the soprano air (3), however, the outline is so characteristic that but a small effort of imagination suffices to endow it with the effect of full instrumentation. The caricatured haughtiness of the Roman lady Eugenia is shown in the very first words:-- The contrast between pomposity and volubility is given at once; the object is to balance one with the other, so that they may appear natural displays of a consistent character. The moderation of tone thus obtained is all the more necessary from the character being a female one, since a woman cannot be caricatured to the point of being revolting, as a man can, without injury to the comic effect. Nacqui all' aura trionfale, Del Romano Campidoglio E non trovo per le scale, Che mi venga ad incontrar? {MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} (62)