The second act opens with ballet music, full of Eastern color, and then ensues one of those choral combinations, like that in the second act of “the Huguenots,” in which Meyerbeer so much delighted,—­a cavalry chorus ("Bel cavalier del cuor d’acciar"), followed by the Grenadier’s song, accompanied by chorus ("Granadier di Russia esperti"), the chorus taking up the “tr-r-r-um” refrain in imitation of the drum.  In the eighth scene we have the orgy in the tent in the form of a very spirited dramatic trio, in which Peter sings a blithe drinking-song ("Vedi al par del rubino"); this in turn resolving into a quintet ("Vezzose vivandiere"), and again into a sextet, as Ismailoff enters with a letter for the Czar.  The finale is a superb military picture, made up of the imposing oath of death to the tyrant, the stirring Dessauer march, the cavalry fanfare, and the Grenadiers’ march, interwoven with the chorus of women as they cheer on the marching soldiers.

The third act opens with a romanza ("Dal cor per iscacciare"), very tender and beautiful, in which the rugged Czar shows us the sentimental side of his character.  In the third scene occurs a long buffo trio between Peter, Gritzensko, and Danilowitz, which is full of humor.  In the finale we have Catharine in the mad scene, singing the scena, “L’aurora alfin succede,” with bits of the old music running through the accompaniment; and in the final scene, as her reason returns, breaking out in the florid bravura, “Non s’ode alcun,” accompanied by the first and second flutes, which is a triumph of virtuosity for the voice.  This number was taken from “The Camp in Silesia,” and was given by Jenny Lind with immense success, not only in the latter work, but upon the concert stage.  The opera as a whole abounds in humor, its music is fresh and brilliant, and its military character makes it specially attractive.

ROBERT THE DEVIL

“Robert le Diable,” a grand opera in five acts, words by Scribe and Delavigne, was first produced at the Academie, Paris, Nov. 21, 1831, with the following cast:—­

ALICE          Mlle. DORUS. 
ISABELLE       Mme. CINTI-DAMOREAU. 
THE ABBESS     Sigr.  TAGLIONI. 
ROBERT         M. NOURRIT. 
BERTRAM        M. LEVASSEUR. 
RAIMBAUT       M. LAFONT.

In the following year two versions in English, both of them imperfect, were brought out by the rival theatres, Covent Garden and Drury Lane.  On the 20th of February it appeared at Drury Lane under the title of “The Demon; or, the Mystic Branch,” and at Covent Garden the next evening as “The Fiend Father, or Robert Normandy.”  Drury Lane had twenty-four hours the start of its rival, but in neither case were the representations anything but poor imitations of the original.  On the 11th of the following June the French version was produced at the King’s Theatre, London, with the same cast as in Paris, except that the part of Alice was