ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that at the apex of the triangle is the composer, normally represented by a conductor who can be assumed to be closest to his musical intentions. At another vertex is the producer and those who work for him, who have to accept the score and creatively re-think its essential drama so that it is viable in the theatre. The chapter focuses on the wider issue of opera composition in general, which has never been a subject for study in the same way as other branches of musical composition: one cannot buy a book on it as one could on orchestration, or symphonic form. The producer who comes to opera, as many do, after experience of the greater freedoms of the spoken theatre will often feel a tension between the overriding musical presence and the dramatic innovations which he would feel to be his legitimate contribution to the performance.
