Well, DRNoel, I think you're flogging a dead horse trying to prove a difference:
Before SWEENEY TODD opened, Steve Sondheim told "Opera News" he was working on a ballad opera, and the closest piece I can think of to SWEENEY TODD is Britten's edition of THE BEGGAR'S OPERA.
I've named and can name more operas whose composers had assistance on orchestrations.
Len Carious sang in American premier of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY at the Stratford, Ontario, Shakespeare Festival; according to Mr Weill it's an opera.
I stand corrected: Len Cariou is an opera singer. In fact, forthwith, everytime I refer to him, it'll be as The Noted Opera Singer Len Cariou (akin to how Brent Barrett is always referred to as World's Sexiest Man).
I'd hate to think it's beating a dead horse, but your comments reveal you've not understand my point at all. I've no idea why you feel compelled to point out examples of operas in which the composers have had assistance doing the orchestration. I've never, ever, made any statement about operas not orchestrated by their composers. There are tons of them. I
have made a statement that most composer-orchestrated works aren't musicals. If you and I rack our brains, we might come up with a dozen musicals, at most, with orchestrations by the composer. That's a tiny percentage, isn't it, of composer-orchestrated shows?
It's like if I say that a heavy cough is a symptom of bronchitis, and you respond that you once knew a guy with lactose intolerance who coughed a lot. O.K. But what does that have to do with my statement?
And here's a bit of trivia: Alan Jay Lerner's last musical, Dance a Little Closer, starred both Noted Opera Singer Len Cariou and World's Sexiest Man, Brent Barrett.
What's Opera, Doc?
