Sturdza also continued to work in designing flying machines with "cardboard wings" which he infamously tested by peasants living on his estates, who suffered broken limbs as a result. An "airplane of his own design" was assigned to be driven by "one poor Gypsy, who got killed on his first attempt". In 1891, he was still passionate about flying, and theorized about the coming age of motorized aircraft. Sturdza's theories and experiments extended to the opera, seeing him as a critic of Richard Wagner's "dissonant and deafening music". By 1879, he had authored several fantasias, with motifs from Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini. As reported by Lisbon's "Diário Illustrado", the works were "simply impossible to perform" and "cannot be found for sale anywhere in Europe". Sturdza did however play chamber music with his "Junimist" friend Alexandru Grigore Suțu, and invented an instrument that was reportedly used by the Paris Conservatory. This is probably the "violin-harp", built for Sturdza by Thomas Zach. Exhibited at the 1873 World's Fair, "it did not turn out to be the revolutionary novelty they had hoped for. Instead of being larger and powerful, the tone was nasal and blurry." Sturdza was a major art sponsor in his capacity as chairman of the "Amicii Artelor" Society (1885), which existed as a challenge to "Junimea" cultural tenets. In February 1895 the "Beizadea" was dedicated the poetry volume "Excelsior" by its sponsored author, Alexandru Macedonski, who had helped popularize "Les lois".