And for the moment musical London was content to be radiantly happy over Jean de Reszke's first appearance on any stage (July 13, 1889) as the hero of Wagner's “Die Meistersinger." It was a great occasion, and the public recognized it as such by crowding the house in every part. Rarely have I known Covent Garden to be pervaded so completely by an atmosphere of excitement and curiosity. Only five years previous the same opera had been given there in German before a comparatively lukewarm assemblage of Wagner partizans. Now every section of the operatic community, united in love and admiration for a great artist as well as for a great   composer, was fully represented. That the sticklers for the exact letter grumbled at Mancinelli's prodigious cuts may go without saying; but that   could not be helped, and, indeed, their complaints were almost unheard amid the general chorus of gratification and pleasure.