Verdi's success in England was confirmed, and more than confirmed, by the production at the Royal Italian Opera of _Un Ballo in Maschera_ (founded on the same subject as Auber's _Gustave III._), with an execution which was above all remarkable for the style in which the part of the Duke, vaguely described as "Il Duca," was played by Signor Mario, and that of Renato, whose wife the Duke betrays, by Signor Graziani; and for the last twelve or fifteen years it has been considered bad taste not to admire Verdi's music. Indeed, since _Aïda_, his latest, most serious, most studied, and, in the true sense of the word, most dramatic opera, it has become the fashion in some musical circles to place him above all other Italian composers, to contrast the significance of his melodies, the characterisation of his personages, and the forcible construction of his scenes, with the careless, haphazard stringing together of meaningless, if singable tunes, and of ingenious rather than dramatic concerted pieces which mark the style or want of style of so many Italian composers. It is only fair, however, to remember that Verdi has not yet surpassed _William Tell_, that he has produced nothing superior in the way of concerted finale to the celebrated one which closes the second act of _Lucia_, and that he scarcely could have treated the last act of _La Favorita_ more dramatically, or with a greater abundance of melodic ideas than Donizetti--here by the way, writing at times very much in Verdi's own manner. In pursuing the story of Verdi's constantly increasing success among the English we have departed from the general history of his career. It must be mentioned, however, that many of Verdi's operas which gained great favour in Italy have either never been given in England at all, or have been performed in this country without exciting much enthusiasm. Nor was any great impression made in England by the work which, under the title of _Masnadieri_, Verdi wrote expressly for Her Majesty's Theatre in the days of Jenny Lind, with Jenny Lind herself, Gardoni, and Lablache in the principal parts. No one seems to have suggested that Verdi's _King Lear_ should be performed in England; but from time to time there has been some talk of producing his _Macbeth_, of which a French version was brought out, not unsuccessfully, at the Théâtre Lyrique of Paris, with some additional music, and especially some new ballet scenes by the composer.