Whatever factors operated to keep Italian opera out of New York, the situation had altered sufficiently in 1825 to tempt Manuel García[38] over with an opera company in that year. To be sure, García was past his prime as a singer and, except for his daughter, Maria, and the basso Angrisani, his company was worse than indifferent. But his coming marked the beginning of an epoch in the operatic history of this country. He gave New Yorkers a first taste of the best in contemporary opera and inaugurated a fashion which on the whole has been productive of very brilliant results. In spite of the fact that opera is not and never has been in New York a diversion for the proletariat; in spite of the fact that it has been to a large extent a vehicle for ostentation; in spite of the fact that its conduct has not always been guided by broad artistic ideals--in spite of all these and other drawbacks New York has set for itself a standard of operatic achievement which is scarcely surpassed by any city in the world. The value of this standard in the promotion of musical culture is questionable; that it subserves the best interests of art is not certain. But at least New York must be awarded the credit of doing such operatic work as it has chosen to do in a finished and magnificent manner. I The foundation of this work was laid by Manuel García at the Park Theatre in 1825. This house was opened in 1798 and was rebuilt in 1820 after its destruction by fire. It was the house of English opera as well as of the spoken drama prior to the García invasion. Apparently the _pièce de résistance_ on García's contemplated program was an authentic version of Rossini's _Barbiere di Siviglia_, and it does not seem that he had in project anything more exacting than this and other light examples of the reigning Italian school. But in New York he ran foul of the old idealist, Lorenzo da Ponte, librettist of Mozart's _Don Giovanni_, _Le nozze di Figaro_, and _Così fan tutte_, now condemned to the obscure fate of a small merchant and teacher of Italian.[39] Da Ponte persuaded García to put on _Don Giovanni_ and succeeded in obtaining the necessary reinforcements to make such a production possible. The production of _Don Giovanni_ was really an event, but whether the people of New York accepted it as such we cannot say. García also presented Rossini's _Barbiere di Siviglia_, _Tancredi_, _Il Turco in Italia_, _Sémiramide_, and _La Cenerentola_, besides two operas of his own composition entitled _L'Amante astuto_ and _La Figlia dell'Aria_. The beauty, art, and magnetism of the youthful Maria García made the season a success and started the fashion of operatic idols which still influences to a large extent the success or failure of that form of art. Otherwise the season was undistinguished.