Long afterward Wagner's friend, Schnorr von Carolsfeld, saw the score in the hands of the composer.

The heroic stature of the hero delighted him, and his praise moved Raff to revise the opera; but before this had been done Schnorr died of the cold contracted while creating the role of Wagner's Tristan at Munich in 1865.

Thus mournfully ended the third episode.

As late as 1882 Raff spoke of taking the opera in hand again, but though he may have done so his death found the work unperformed and it has not yet seen the light of the stage-lamps.
Saint-Saens's opera has also passed through many vicissitudes, but has succumbed to none and is probably possessed of more vigorous life now than it ever had.

It is the recognized operatic masterpiece of the most resourceful and fecund French musician since Berlioz.