OPERA FAILING

Why is opera failing around the world?I think there are several reasons. 

I believe the trend began in Europe decades ago when classic productions began to be replaced with "Konzept Oper" (concept opera) and has moved into a phase of "regietheater" (stage theater).  
Theaters began permitting stage directors to explore the psychological side of the operatic characters, many times finding a completely new vision for the opera.  Unfortunately, this confused audiences and attendance has since dwindled. 

I look at an updated opera production this way:  if the director needs more than a page in the program to explain or justify his concept, then it is probably too complicated for the audience to easily enjoy. 

I don't want to sit in a theater and spend most of the show trying to figure out what the significance is of many new twists the director may have included.  

I attended several performances in the Arena in Verona, Italy last summer.  Some of the people in my group made the comment, "...it is hard to hear the singers...." 

Yes, the Arena is an outdoor venue where one must truly listen to the singers, as the Arena holds 18,000 people.  But another issue is amplification.  If we listen to music at home, even classical music, it is easy to crank up the volume and sit in the middle of the orchestra and hear every sound out of digitally mastered voice.  This is not the same sound we hear when we attend a live performance of opera in a theater.  
I believe a well tuned theater gives us the best chance at hearing a voice at its best, and hope that people can continue to take advantage of live performance as the best way to see and hear an opera performance.