To MARIE--WIFE 

and 

DAUGHTER HELEN 

Who have shared with the Author many of the
Experiences described in this book. 

"Joy shared is Joy doubled."
--GOETHE. 

PREFACE 

The making of this book was prompted by the fact that with the season
1907-08 the Metropolitan Opera House in New York completed an existence
of twenty-five years.  Through all this period at public representations
I have occupied stall D-15 on the ground floor as reviewer of musical
affairs for The New York Tribune newspaper.  I have, therefore, been a
witness of the vicissitudes through which the institution has passed