Next day, which was Sunday, we left for the opera-house--that is to say,
the Wagner temple--a little after the middle of the afternoon. The great
building stands all by itself, grand and lonely, on a high ground outside
the town. We were warned that if we arrived after four o'clock we should
be obliged to pay two dollars and a half extra by way of fine. We saved
that; and it may be remarked here that this is the only opportunity that
Europe offers of saving money. There was a big crowd in the grounds
about the building, and the ladies' dresses took the sun with fine
effect. I do not mean to intimate that the ladies were in full dress,
for that was not so. The dresses were pretty, but neither sex was in
evening dress.
The interior of the building is simple--severely so; but there is no
occasion for color and decoration, since the people sit in the dark. The
auditorium has the shape of a keystone, with the stage at the narrow end.
There is an aisle on each side, but no aisle in the body of the house.
Each row of seats extends in an unbroken curve from one side of the house
to the other. There are seven entrance doors on each side of the theater
and four at the butt, eighteen doors to admit and emit 1,650 persons.
The number of the particular door by which you are to enter the house or
leave it is printed on your ticket, and you can use no door but that one.
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