It is not usual, I know, to wear thick boots at the opera; but I regretted very much that, obeying my young wife, I had put on a thin pair, when I went the other night to hear the new young Swedish singer. I have seldom been more charmed than I was by her fresh voice, fair face, and her agreeable demeanour. She sings in a pure style, with intelligence and taste, and she can hold a long soft note with none of the affected trembling of the voice which of late has been so fashionable. Her tones are clear and full, high but never shrill; and she has no need of French polish to conceal those cracks and blemishes which Verdi makes in thin weak voices. She is very young at present, and must not be crudely criticized; but she seems by nature gifted for the operatic stage, and having ardour and ambition to shine lastingly upon it. Because she happens to be Swedish, people think of their old favourite, and make absurd comparisons between a finished artist in the climax of her fame and a clever débutante who is wishful to be famous. The parallel, though premature, may in one point be permitted, for these Swedes have both the gift of singing not to the ears only, but simply to the heart; and though Christine Nilsson may not be a second Jenny Lind, she is even now among the very first of _prime donne_. In 1868 regret is expressed that Royalty bestowed more patronage on Offenbach than Handel--the Handel Festival coinciding with the production of _La Grande Duchesse_ in 1868; on the other hand, Patti's marriage to the Marquis de Caux is thought worthy of a mention under the heading of "Essence of Parliament"! In 1869 _Punch_ notes the knighthood conferred on Costa, whom he had once described as "the tamer of wild prima donnas," and pays homage to Grisi, who died at the close of the year:-- GIULIA GRISI Nay, no elegies nor dirges! Let thy name recall the surges, Waves of song, whose magic play Swept our very souls away: And the memories of the days When to name thee was to praise; Visions of a queenly grace, Glowings of a radiant face, Art's High Priestess! at her shrine Ne'er was truer guard than thine. Were it Love, or were it Hate, It was thine, and it was great. Glorious Woman--like to thee We have seen not, nor shall see. Lost the Love, the Hate, the Mirth-- * * * * * Light upon thee lie the earth! Hervé's _Chilpéric_ is hailed in 1870 as a welcome substitute for the tyranny of Schneider and Offenbach; as for _Tannhäuser_, _Punch_ was apparently very much of the same way of thinking as the members of the Jockey Club in Paris, who received it with whistles and cat-calls in 1861:-- GEE WOE, WAGNER A Solo by Mr. Crusty, after hearing a Selection from the Opera of _Tannhäuser_