Sondheim on contemporary opera

"The problem with writing an opera is that you never get a chance to fix it. The way opera companies are run (and one understands the exigencies) you can never get enough performances to fix it. You get five, six, a dozen performances, usually not in a row. In the 19th century, and I’m sure earlier, operas were re-written over a period of time, the way shows are now. With a musical, you have a number of continuous performances whether it’s out of town, before New York, or like here at the National, where you have ten previews during which to fix a play. With opera, not only do you not get enough performances, you don’t get successive ones, you don’t even get a successive cast quite often. So that no scene ever gets set, and as a writer you cannot judge whether what’s wrong with the piece is the actors’ fault or the orchestra’s fault or your fault. The result, I think, is that most twentieth century operas are at best on the way to being good, and the problem is that you simply don’t get enough time. Beverly Sills who runs the NYCO asked me a number of times to write an opera, and I said "Can I get thirty continuous performances?" There was dead silence, and I sympathise, it’s not her fault but an opera audience likes repertory."

-Stephen Sondheim in a question and answer session 5 March, 1990, Olivier Theatre.