The course of the Sulamite's true love was not running smoothly. Her next appearance, at the Albert Hall during the winter of 1885 under the guidance of Mr. Joseph Barnby, brought important consequences with it. Without doubt the choral and orchestral demands had been–as the popular conductor afterwards admitted to me–underestimated; nor was the selection of the principal soprano a happy one for the part. The general result therefore was so unfavourable that unfulfilled expectations caused the performance to be freely condemned.