Faust with all their charms.  Faust seizes the Sacred Volume, and declares that he relies upon its word for salvation.  He prays for help against the demon.  His prayer is answered; and as he dies a shower of roses falls upon his body.  The tempter disappears, and the finale of the prologue, repeated, announces Faust has died in salvation.  The opera as a whole is episodical in its dramatic construction, and the music is a mixture of two styles,—­the Wagnerian and the conventional Italian; but its orchestration is very bold and independent in character, and the voice-parts are very striking in their adaptation to the dramatic requirements.

DELIBES.

Leo Delibes, the French composer, was born at St. Germain du Val in 1836, and was graduated at the Paris Conservatory, where he reached high distinction.  His first work, written in 1855, was an operetta entitled “Deux Sous de Carbon;” but he did not make his mark until his “Maitre Griffard” was produced at the Theatre Lyrique in 1857.  In 1865 he was appointed Chorus-master at the Opera, and there his real career began.  His first great triumph was in ballet-music, which has ever since been his specialty.  His first ballet, “La Source,” was produced at the Opera, Nov. 12, 1865, and delighted all Paris.  It was followed by a divertisement for the revival of Adam’s “Corsaire” (1867), the ballet “Coppelia” (1870), a three-act opera “Le Roi l’a dit” (1873), and the exquisite ballet in three acts and five tableaux, “Sylvia” (1876), with which Theodore Thomas has made American audiences familiar.  His opera “Lakme” was written in 1879.

LAKME.

The romantic opera, “Lakme,” written in 1879, was first performed in this country by the American Opera Company in 1886, Mme. L’Allemand taking the title-role.  The principal characters are Lakme, daughter of Nilakantha, an Indian priest, Gerald and Frederick, officers of the British Army, Ellen and Rose, daughters of the Viceroy, and Mrs. Benson, governess.  The scene is laid in India.  Nilakantha cherishes a fond hatred of all foreigners.  The two English officers, Gerald and Frederick, accompanied by a bevy of ladies, intrude upon his sacred grounds.  They stroll about and gradually retire, but Gerald remains to sketch some jewels, which Lakme has left upon a shrine while she goes flower-gathering with her slave Mallika, evidently also to await developments when she returns.  Lakme soon comes sailing in on her boat, and there is a desperate case of love at first sight.  Their demonstrations of affection are soon interrupted by the appearance of the priest, whose anger Gerald escapes by fleeing, under cover of a convenient thunder-storm.  In the next act Lakme and her father appear in the public market-place, disguised as penitents.  He compels his daughter to sing, hoping that her face and voice will induce her lover to disclose himself.  The ruse proves