The French opera house is, as most people know, one of the most imposing sights of Paris; well situated and finely conceived, it is a worthy home for that art product for which it is intended. The history of French opera from the earliest recorded performances of the sixteenth century is, of course, a very extensive one. So long ago as 1672 the name of Lully made Parisian opera famous, and although for a time its home was transferred to the Palace Royal, the site has borne testimony to many a fine building, the present one, inscribed Académie Nationale de Musique, dating from 1874 (commenced in 1861). Although its seating capacity of 2,156 is much less than that of La Scala, it is the largest house in the world, and covers almost three acres of ground, the cost of its erection being nearly a million and a half. Besides Lully, the names of Rameau, Gluck, Cherubini, Spontini, Hérold, Auber, Meyerbeer, and Berlioz are all indissolubly connected with the opera of Paris: of that special class of work, the Parisian “Grand Opera,” we have already spoken. There is no house in all musical history that can claim so great a measure of variety and incident, nor make such interesting reading, as that of the “Académie de Musique.” Its fortunes have fluctuated, but it has done wonderful work, and a mere recapitulation of names of fine operas which gained their original production here would be far too long for quotation. The glory of Parisian Grand Opera has always held a spell over the nations, and has been a thing apart from all else in music; we know something of its hold upon Wagner, and if there is to-day somewhat less of a glamour cast by it than in the days when Lully held despotic sway, or Spontini or Meyerbeer dominated all, there is still a charm and delight to be found within its walls, which are difficult to equal in houses where the traditional uses are less sacredly adhered to. [Sidenote: =The Grand Opera=] The French are very jealous of its traditions, and although modern times have not allowed the direction to fall behind in their efforts to keep pace with the strides operatic music has made under Wagner’s influence, it is only quite recently that the works of the composer have been welcomed in Paris. Popular feeling, partly on patriotic grounds, for long kept his operas in the background: Parisians would have none of them. The result has been, perhaps, even more rigidly to preserve those customs of Grand Opera, such as the inclusion of a ballet, which are amongst its most distinctive features.