holds its place in universal popular esteem.  For brilliant gayety it stands in the front rank of all comic operas, though Donizetti was but three weeks in writing it.  It is said that when it was in rehearsal its fate was uncertain.  The orchestra and singers received it very coldly; but when the rehearsal was over, Donizetti merely shrugged his shoulders and remarked to his friend, M. Dormoy, the publisher:  “Let them alone; they know nothing about it.  I know what is the matter with ’Don Pasquale.’  Come with me.”  They went to the composer’s house.  Rummaging among a pile of manuscripts, Donizetti pulled out a song.  “This is what ‘Don Pasquale’ wants,” he said.  “Take it to Mario and tell him to learn it at once.”  Mario obeyed, and when the opera was performed sang it to the accompaniment of a tambourine, which Lablache played behind the scenes.  The opera was a success at once, and no song has ever been more popular.

In strange contrast with the gay humor of “Don Pasquale,” it may be stated that in the same year Donizetti wrote the mournful “Don Sebastian,” which has been described as “a funeral in five acts.”  Crowest, in his “Anecdotes,” declares that the serenade is suggestive of Highland music, and that many of his other operas are Scottish in color.  He accounts for this upon the theory that the composer was of Scotch descent, his grandfather having been a native of Perthshire, by the name of Izett, and that his father, who married an Italian lady, was Donald Izett.  The change from Donald Izett to Donizetti was an easy one.  The story, however, is of doubtful authenticity.

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR.

“Lucia di Lammermoor,” an opera in three acts, words by Cammarano, was first produced at Naples in 1835, with Mme. Persiani and Sig.  Duprez, for whom the work was written, in the principal roles of Lucia and Edgardo.  Its first presentation at Paris was Aug. 10, 1839; in London, April 5, 1838; and in English, at the Princess Theatre, London, Jan. 19, 1843.  The subject of the opera is taken from Sir Walter Scott’s novel, “The Bride of Lammermoor,” and the scene is laid in Scotland, time, about 1669.

Sir Henry Ashton, of Lammermoor, brother of Lucy, the heroine, has arranged a marriage between her and Lord Arthur Bucklaw, in order to recover the fortune which he has dissipated, and to save himself from political peril he has incurred by his participation in movements against the reigning dynasty.  Sir Edgar Ravenswood, with whom he is at enmity, is deeply attached to Lucy, who reciprocates his love, and on the eve of his departure on an embassy to France pledges herself to him.  During his absence Edgar’s letters are intercepted by her brother, who hints to her of his infidelity, and finally shows her a forged paper which she accepts as the proof that he is untrue.  Overcome with grief at her lover’s supposed unfaithfulness, and yielding to the pressure