Around one o'clock went to the general rehearsal of Rusalka. The whole Conservatoire population goes to these general rehearsals and they are always interesting. Gabel was as usual quite charming to me, accompanying me right through the Conservatoire building into the rehearsal. Dranishnikov conducted the opera with skill and authority, delighting both Tcherepnin and his friends. Tcherepnin sat me down next to him in the front row and we exchanged opinions of the opera. There is no doubt that Dargomyzhsky possesses dramatic instincts, but as a whole the opera is diffuse both musically and dramatically, and in its power to attract. But there are beautiful things in it.