What he performed instead were the brilliant and variable arias.
It is a clear instance of 'affirmative deformation', embracing a convention (here the lyricform aria) all the more strongly by keeping its normative realisation silent.
Until about two years ago scholars could not distinguish the original 1798 version from later revisions, which involved significant alterations, new numbers and substitute arias.
Given the manipulation of operatic conventions in both her arias, it is clear that her words and music - her doctrine - carry authority.
The aria is about the mirror's power of transformation.
However, the authorship of the aria has never been questioned.
The da capo aria embodies the epistemological and the structural rationale for such freedoms.
Why don't they get big arias that mark them as the true heroes of the story?
