ABSTRACT
Whereas Costa dominated the opera scene and set the pattern for opera conducting in London, he had to fit into a concert structure which was already burgeoning. In 1826–27 London, with more than twice the population of Paris and four times that of Vienna, was supporting 125 concerts, compared with 78 in Paris and 111 in Vienna. 1 Fétis estimated in 1829 that there were three or four concerts a day in the Easter-to-August season. By 1845 ‘the season is now all year round’ and in 1863 the Times claimed that there were about 500 concerts a year. 2
