<p><span class="deck">New York received the great composer like a god; he responded <span class="typestyle"> con brio</span> to its shiny gadgets and beautiful women and produced an “American” opera.</span></p>
<p><span class="deck">The men and women who labored in the ghostly light of the great screen to make the music that accompanied silent movies were as much a part of the show as Lillian Gish or Douglas Fairbanks.</span></p>
<p><span class="deck">Lorenzo Da Ponte, New York bookseller and Pennsylvania grocer, was a charming ne’er-do-well in the eyes of his fellow Americans. He happened, also, to have written the words for <span class="typestyle"> Don Giovanni</span> and <em><span class="typestyle"> The Marriage of Figaro</span></em>. </span></p>
<p><span class="deck">The great Czech composer arrived on these shores a century ago and wrote some of his most enduring masterpieces here. Perhaps more important, he understood better than any American of the day where our musical destiny lay.</span></p>
