The performance of Aida was the equal of the first performance, except that at the beginning the new Amneris, a student of Zherebtsova-Andreyeva called Pavlinova, dragged. I reasoned that if the tempo drags, the conductor will be blamed, and if the ensemble with the singer is bad, then the conductor likewise will be blamed; so the least worst course of action is to keep up the tempo, and I made sure the chords came in advance of the voice. This helped, she picked up the tempo and all was well.