Various discussions on and around this post got me thinking about the issue of reward for effort versus instant gratification and what that means for audiences, critics and management.  It goes something like this.  Opera house schedules are dominated by relatively elderly, often unchallenging repertory.  As Philip Hensher says, it’s as if The Second Mrs. Tanqueray was still the most performed piece on the straight stage.  In North America these works are usually presented in a way that is unchallenging and familiar to audiences.  There isn’t much new work on show and most of what there is is musically fairly undemanding.  Even 20th century classics like Lulu or Peter Grimes aren’t much seen except perhaps in the very large centres.  In Europe it’s a bit different.  The standard works tend to be presented in more challenging productions.  The 20th century classics are given more often and new work is often rather more demanding in nature; Riemann and Birtwistle rather than Heggie and Adams.

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