As a matter of fact the theatrical bands of this metropolis can stand comparison, favourably to themselves, with those of any Continental city. I venture to make this assertion somewhat confidently, having, in the course of the past twenty years, attended every imaginable sort of theatrical performance in all the countries of Europe, except the Scandinavian kingdoms and the Hellenic realm... Of course bands engaged to play ballet music and the accompaniments of comic opera, operetta, etc., are expected to be of a quality superior to that of the average theatrical orchestra. But the latter, in London at least, has attained so high a standard as to leave little to be desired.