OFFICIAL LIFE IN ST. PETERSBURG-1892-1894 115 



the world, save that of the cathedral choir of Berlin at 

 its best. I have heard the Sistine, Pauline, and Lateran 

 choirs at Rome; and they are certainly far inferior to 

 these Russian singers. No instrumental music is allowed, 

 and no voices of women. The choristers are men and 

 boys. There are several fine choirs in St. Petersburg, 

 but three are famous : that of the Emperor at the Winter 

 Palace Chapel, that of the Archbishop at the Cathedral 

 of St. Isaac, and that of the Nevski Monastery. Occa 

 sionally there were concerts when all were combined, and 

 nothing in its way could be more perfect. 



Operatic music also receives careful attention. Enor 

 mous subsidies are given to secure the principal singers 

 of Europe at the Italian, French, and German theaters; 

 but the most lavish outlay is upon the national opera: it 

 is considered a matter of patriotism to maintain it at the 

 highest point possible. The Russian Opera House is an 

 enormous structure, and the finest piece which I saw given 

 there was Glinka s &quot;Life for the Czar.&quot; Being written 

 by a Russian, on a patriotic subject, and from an ultra- 

 loyal point of view, everything had been done to mount it 

 in the most superb way possible : never have I seen more 

 wonderful scenic effects, the whole culminating in the 

 return of one of the old fighting czars to the Kremlin 

 after his struggle with the Poles. The stage was enor 

 mous and the procession magnificent. The personages 

 in it were the counterparts, as regarded dress, of the per 

 sons they represented, exact copies having been made 

 of the robes and ornaments of the old Muscovite boyards, 

 as preserved in the Kremlin Museum ; and at the close of 

 this procession came a long line of horses, in the most 

 superb trappings imaginable, attended by guards and out 

 riders in liveries of barbaric splendor, and finally the 

 imperial coach. We were enabled to catch sight of the 

 Cossack guards on the front of it, when, just as the body 

 of the coach was coming into view, down came the cur 

 tain. This was the result of a curious prohibition, en 

 forced in all theaters in Russia: on no account is it 



