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TOC
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the same convent; and was so fortunate
as to enter it just as the service was be-
gun, and heard the same motet repeated
again by the same nun, and with double
delight.
The ballad-singers at Milan sing duets
in the streets, sometimes with, and some-
times without instruments, and keep very
firm to their parts; but though I did not
perceive that they mounted a stage here,
as at Turin, yet I was told that they do
it often in the Piazza del Duomo.
At night, the first tenor of the bur-
letta continuing to be ill, there was an
accademia at the theatre, instead of an
opera. The singers were the same that I
had heard before; they were placed on
the stage in much the same manner as at
the annual performance in London for
the benefit of decayed musicians: they
sat at tables, two and two, and when they
sung, each got up, and advanced towards
the audience. There were several opera
overtures performed, but no solos; instead
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