[…] all the choral per­formers, female as well as male, were driven farther back behind the pillars, and quite parted from the central part of the orchestra by a bar or low partition. This was an obvious and perceptible disadvantage, placing them so much out of sight, and intercepting the sound of the voices. The consequence was, that the chorusses failed in some measure of their effect, and were not so powerful as they would otherwise have been.