A much-touted novelty; a variant from the small-time vaudeville, from the eternal stock company, from eternal boredom; a cross between a church meeting and a circus! Such was _Parsifal_ to the shirt-sleeved communities of America from coast to coast. It was a sad spectacle--the saddest perhaps in the artistic annals of this country. In his second season Conried staged a rather too elaborate production of Strauss's _Die Fledermaus_, which he followed up in his third season with _Der Zigeunerbaron_. The production of _Hänsel und Gretel_ in the presence of the composer and the revival of Goldmark's _Königin von Saba_ were creditable features of the third season. In 1906-07 Mr. Conried outshone himself and, whatever his motives, he stirred operatic New York then as it had perhaps never been stirred. To begin with, he produced Richard Strauss's setting of Oscar Wilde's _Salome_. Such a fluttering in the moral dovecotes has rarely been seen. Ever meticulously careful of its spotless purity, New York protested violently against the 'shocking exhibition' and, after the first performance, the directors of the Metropolitan issued the following notice: 'The directors of the Metropolitan Opera and Real Estate Company consider that the performance of _Salome_ is objectionable and detrimental to the best interests of the Metropolitan Opera House. They therefore protest against any repetition of this opera.' However, the bad taste left by _Salome_ in the mouths of the Metropolitan Opera House patrons was presumably removed by the gala productions of Puccini's _Manon Lescaut_ and _Madama Butterfly_ in the presence of the composer. The former had already been given by an Italian company at Wallack's Theatre in 1898 and the latter in English by Savage's company at the Garden Theatre in 1906. Other novelties of the season were Berlioz's _La Damnation de Faust_ and Giordano's _Fedora_. In the season of 1907-8 the only novelty was Francesco Cilea's _Adriana Lecouvreur_. The season was otherwise notable for the presence of Gustav Mahler, then conductor of the Court Opera, Vienna, who gave extraordinary readings of _Don Giovanni_, _Fidelio_, _Tristan und Isolde_, and _Die Walküre_. Conried resigned from the Metropolitan management in February, 1908. His managerial career was certainly extraordinary; he thoroughly stirred New York's turgid operatic waters. The list of artists introduced by him is a brilliant one. Besides the names already mentioned it includes Bella Alten, Lina Cavalieri, Geraldine Farrar, Marie Mattfeld, Bessie Abbott, Marie Rappold, Berta Morena, Carl Burrian, Allessandro Bonci, Riccardo Martin, and the great Russian basso, Theodore Chaliapine.