But in the piece Scribe created, Peter the Great took Frederick the Great's place and to give a motive for the grace notes in the last act it was necessary for the terrible Tsar, a half savage barbarian, to learn to play the flute.
It is not worth while telling how the Tsar took lessons on the flute from a young pastry cook who came on the stage with a basket of cakes on his head; how the cook later became a lord, and many other details of this absurd play.

It is permitted to be absurd on the stage, if it is done so that the absurdity is forgotten.

But in this instance it was impossible to forget the absurdities.

The extravagance of the libretto led the musician into many unfortunate things.

This extremely interesting score is very uneven, but there are a thousand details worth the attention of the professional musician.