The economic development of the operatic marketplace depended on the production of works, the control of works, and the exploitation of works.
That has cleansed the classical operatic heritage of the filth that has clung to it for many decades.
We have nothing dramatic or operatic on which to hang the chords.
The actual source of the operatic stories is perhaps the least important factor for this argument.
The conventional operatic world of romance, mistaken identity and intrigue has been displaced by one of ideological celebration.
This was the question that would absorb and affect the development of the operatic marketplace through much of the nineteenth century.
If we want to address operatic staging critically, we need to be selective, both in the productions we discuss and in the traits we highlight.
The central purpose of the article is to challenge operatic conventions by suggesting ideas for dramatic changes.
