I continue to believe that it would be wonderful to have some good new operas, repeatable and renewable ones, and that the search for something to sing about must go on. In terms of the viability of our great operatic institutions, though, the “new-opera problem” is dwarfed by the old opera-problem, which is one of interpretation, of locating a creative spark therein that also upholds the integrity of the works being interpreted. Neither problem seems close to solution just now.

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NEXT TIME: Speaking of the old-opera problem: I have also seen the current revival of the Met’s long-lived version of Wagner’s Tannhäuser, and will file a succinct appraisal of it one week from today, on Friday, Dec. 22.