A man of ample musical stature and far too little reputation is Cornelius.[102] He was an actor and painter before turning to music. For some years he served Liszt as secretary and confidant at Weimar, working hard at music while acting as a sort of literary press agent for the more radical tendencies in music. He was one of the earliest to understand and believe in Wagner’s music and theories (see Chapter XI). As early as 1855 he was attempting to apply them to comic opera. The result was the two-act opera ‘The Barber of Bagdad,’ which Liszt thought highly of and brought to performance under his own direction at the Weimar Court Theatre. But the denizens of Weimar were by this time tired of the fad of being radical, and laughed the piece off the stage. It was in disgust at this fiasco that Liszt decided to give up his directorship in Weimar, and, after a few more months of gradually slipping away from his duties, he left the town for Italy, returning thereafter only for occasional visits. ‘The Barber of Bagdad’ (the libretto by Cornelius himself) carries out Wagner’s theories concerning the close union of text and music, the dramatic and meaty character of the libretto, the fusion of recitative and cantilena style, and the use of the leit-motif. It is full-bodied music, excellent in technique and, moreover, filled with delightful musical humor and beautiful melodies. But it insists on treating its sparkling plot with high artistic seriousness, and this mystified the Weimar audience, who, no doubt, failed to see why one should take a comic opera so in earnest. Cornelius’ later opera, ‘The Cid,’ was a serious work in the Wagnerian style and necessarily was overshadowed by Wagner’s great works, then just becoming known. It is diffuse and uneven. But the last opera, _Gunlöd_, left unfinished at the composer’s death and completed by friends, contains much to justify frequent revival. II The movement which we have just discussed had its parallel in France, though there the nationalistic element was lacking--conditions did not call for it; the fight had long since been fought (cf. Chapter I). But in France, like in Germany, the romantic opera, the _drame lyrique_, was to grow out of the lighter type, the _opéra comique_, the French equivalent of the _singspiel_. Before discussing that development, however, we must consider for a moment the work of a composer who has already engaged our attention and who cannot be classed with any of his compatriots.