But what dissimilarities there are in the styles of the two men! In their methods of treating the orchestra and the voices, in their musical architectonics, and in their conception of opera! In spite of the great worth of _Les Troyens_ and _Benvenuto Cellini_, Berlioz shone brightest in the concert hall; Wagner is primarily a man of the theater.

Berlioz showed clearly in _Les Troyens_ his intention of approaching Gluck, while Wagner freely avowed his indebtedness to Weber, and particularly to the score of _Euryanthe_.

He might have added that he owed something to Marschner, but he never spoke of that.
The more we study the works of these two men of genius, the more we are impressed by the tremendous difference between them.

Their resemblance is simply one of those imaginary things which the critics too often mistake for a reality.

The critics once found local color in Rossini's _Semiramide_! Hans de Buelow once said to me in the course of a conversation, "After all Meyerbeer was a man of genius." If we fail to recognize Meyerbeer's genius, we are not only unjust but also ungrateful.