In days when enormous groups of performers were considered indispensable for grand effects in opera, one reads of many extravagances in the way of display. In modern scenic dramatic works, in the ballet, and in pantomime, these effects are no doubt legitimate enough; but in so far as the cumbering of the stage with voiceless supers hardly helps on the cause of opera, it is a matter for congratulation that these exceptional stage demands are no longer made to any great extent. Here, for instance, is the modest list of performers that took part in Freschi’s _Berenice_ in 1680:— 100 Virgins. 100 Soldiers. 100 Horsemen in Iron Armour. 40 Cornets on Horseback. 6 Mounted Trumpeters. 6 Drummers. 6 Ensigns. 6 Sackbuts. 6 Flutes. 12 Minstrels playing on Turkish instruments, etc. 6 Pages. 3 Sergeants. 6 Cymbaleers. 12 Huntsmen. 12 Grooms. 12 Charioteers. 2 Lions led by 2 Turks. 2 Elephants. 4 Horses with Berenice’s Triumphal Car. 12 Horses drawing 6 cars. 6 Chariots. A stable with 100 living horses. A forest filled with wild boar, deer, and bears. However magnificent and imposing in effect such a spectacle may be, its proper sphere is not opera. With Meyerbeer, Spontini, and other composers of grand opera these ideas have found favour; but they are a bar to the production of their works to-day, not only on the score of very considerable expense, but also because the artistic sense that delights in beautiful music wedded to appropriate drama will hardly find pleasure in such merely sensuous effects of the eye. [Sidenote: =Wagner’s Supernatural Requirements=] The difficulties of modern stage management occur chiefly in the presentation of the supernatural; huge crowds are easy enough to put upon the stage, but to make a bird fly across naturally is a more involved matter. In so many of the Wagner operas these supernatural features are essential elements of the situation; the Rhine maidens _must_ appear to be swimming in real water, the bird _must_ fly ahead of Siegfried to show him the rock on which Brünnhilde sleeps, and round that rock living flames of fire _must_ dart and play. It is such points as these which are difficult to stage convincingly. Has anyone ever felt very frightened at the dragon Fafner? The fire has a way of coming out of his mouth at the wrong time, his head and his tail seem to have little connection with one another, and the impressive effect of his deeply sonorous utterances is often marred by the very visible megaphone through which they are uttered. In these strange beasts, for which machinery is ineffective, there is still scope for improvement in modern stage management. [Sidenote: =Curiosities of the Music=]