Opera in a post-bourgeois world.

[Chosen Barley]

No, modern productions don't have to be 100% authentic (see reference to Cesar, above) but neither do they have to resemble the  Bondy-Peduzzi Tosca. 

[eyeresist]

And here is where opera can change lives.  Opera at its best is an overwhelming experience; story, music, visual art and stagecraft meld into a magical whole that easily bypasses our emotional defenses and opens our minds and hearts to new ideas or new states of being.  No matter that so many operas fall short of their potential; there's always the chance that a new crew of artists (opera is always a collaborative effort) will create something beautiful and challenging enough to work an inner change on some audience member.  You can call this "shocking the bourgeoisie" if you like; but to many of us, it's more like preaching a gospel and watching it change people for the better.

How ever "challenging" it may be, art changes nothing.

[knight66]

How ever "challenging" it may be, art changes nothing.

Nonsense.

[DavidRoss]

Nonsense.

Aye.  Imagine the 19th Century without The Sorrows of Young Werther...or the 1960s without The Beatles.