From the sidelines

 Another review of another new American opera same old story; bad scansion, no melody, words impossible to understand, no drama.   For example, a couple -a wife happily washing dishes while the husband boiling with anger he then explodes--why does this scene not work?  Because the husband's boiling is not suggested by the music during the wife's happiness moment so when he explodes (musically) its completely out of left field.  The music does not support the husbands actions only the wife's. The music boxes in the drama in because only one musical mood happens at a time even if there are several different dramatic motivations in the scene.

Ok I know this.  What use is this knowledge in a time when contemporary opera is not about the work but about securing a performance.  Yet my understanding is tempered by the fact that none of my operas has been performed.