I began Act II in a foul mood but gradually recovered myself. I was very nervous about the finale of this act, especially on account of Mandelbaum, who as expected sang unrhythmically, forcing me to alternate between speeding up and slowing down the tempo, completely unsettling the pace so that it was a great relief when he left the stage. In this way the second act came successfully to an end, and Gabel was as nice as can be during the interval, presumably to make up for his earlier assault over the chorus.