Excerpt from Chapters of Opera: Being Historical and Critical Observations and Records Concerning the Lyric Drama in New York From Its Earliest Days Down to the Present Time The chapters which precede the more or less detailed history of the Metropolitan Opera House (i-vii) were written for the sake of the light which they shed on exist ing institutions and conditions, and to illustrate the devel Opment of existing taste, appreciation, and interest touching the lyrical drama. TO the same end much consideration has been paid to significant doings outside the Metro politan Opera House since it has been the chief domicile of grand Opera in New York. Especial attention has been given for obvious reasons to the two seasons of opera at Mr. Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera House. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.