—the arias and ensemble parts of the score, hardly atonal, are part of the overall composition. Do you separate them from the accompaniment portions of the score to attempt to justify your characterization of the composition as …atonal, modernist?

—do you think that Persian modalities must be presented only by Persian musical instruments?

—regarding ‘family snapshots’–all opera (with the possible exception of Wagnerian opera)’ consists of ‘snapshots’–family and otherwise

finally, operettas and grand opera are different, in scope, orchestration, casting. Should a competent critic acknowledge this and evaluate operetta by its own standards?