I. Operatic origins. History of Her Majesty's theatre. Covent Garden and the Royal Italian opera. The romantic and the necromantic. Lyrical and dramatic subjects. The picturesque side of the Don Juan legend. The Don Juan legend. The original Don Juan. Don Juan in Italy. The Italian Don Juan in France. Moliere's Don Juan. Don Juan in England. Mozart's "Don Juan" described by Hoffman. Alfred de Musset's "Don Juan." Poushkin's additional scene for "Faust" and the new last act for "Don Juan." The Faust of history and of legend. Gradual transformation of the Faust legend. How Dr. Faust became a dancer. The operatic Faust. The flying Dutchman. Tannhäuser. Lohengrin. Robert the Devil. Meyerbeer since "Robert le Diable." Verdi, and four of his operas.--II. Aïda and the Manzoni requiem. Some of Rossini's works. Donizetti and Bellini. The Mignon and Hamlet of Ambroise Thomas. Shakespearian operas. Carmen. The ever-popular Martha. An operatic centenary [La Scala, Milan, 1876] Decline and fall of the tenor