TET
THE plot of The Fair Maid of Perth, an Opera which Bizet wrote when he was twenty. nine, is taken from Sir Walter Scott 's novel, though Bizét did not admire the story. ' It is a detestable novel, but an excellent book,' he said to a friend, meaning, presumably, that it served his operatic purpose welt enough. At any rate, it gave him plenty of. scope for writing admirable tunes, some lyrical and romantic, others extremely gay. This Selection attractively presents a number of them.