'World-losers and world-forsakers On whom the pale moon gleams Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems.' Da Ponte had a dream. It was of a permanent Italian opera in New York, with himself as poet. The dream was not realized, but it had an important influence. After five years of endeavor da Ponte succeeded in inducing a French tenor named Montressor to undertake a season of opera at the Richmond Hill Theatre. The season opened in October 6, 1832, but failed after thirty-five performances. On the whole, it would seem that the company was a very good one, and it is hard to explain its failure except on the ground that New York audiences were still lacking in the faculty of appreciation. The orchestra was supposed to be the best that had yet been heard in the city, and, fortunately for New York, most of its members settled there after the failure of the enterprise. The operas performed during Montressor's season were Rossini's _Cenerentola_ and _L'Italiani in Algieri_, Bellini's _Il Pirata_, and Mercadante's _Elisa e Claudio_. Notwithstanding Montressor's failure, da Ponte still remained undaunted. He now determined that the thing really needed was an Italian opera house decked out with the same social halo as adorned the brilliant institutions of London and Vienna. He was right. The Metropolitan Opera House of to-day is just the sort of institution that da Ponte forecasted, and its success proves that the old dreamer was no bad prophet. Through his influence the Italian Opera House was built on the corner of Church and Leonard Streets at a cost of $150,000, and with the coöperation of many of the most eminent citizens. Evidently it was designed to appeal to the cream of the _beau monde_. We quote from the diary of Philip Hone, Esq., sometime mayor of New York: '----The house is superb, and the decorations of the proprietors' boxes (which occupy the whole of the second tier) are in a style of magnificence which even the extravagance of Europe has not yet equalled. I have one-third of box No. 8; Peter Schermerhorn one-third; James J. Jones one-sixth; William Moore one-sixth. Our box is fitted up with great taste with light blue hangings, gilded panels and cornice, armchairs and a sofa. Some of the others have rich silk ornaments, some are painted in fresco, and each proprietor seems to have tried to outdo the rest in comfort and magnificence. The scenery is beautiful. The dome and the fronts of the boxes are painted in the most superb classical designs, and the sofa seats are exceedingly commodious.'