Frank Kulesza:

>I give opera lectures to support opera in the bay area 'the bay aria' I
>always say men write all the operas and the heroine is usually the only
>character aware of what is going on!  What I can't understand is why women
>do not seem to write operas and what their spin would be?

Women do write operas.  These operas simply seldom, if ever, get performed.
Writing opera is pretty much a thankless job for a composer.  Opera
companies are generally too frightened to risk commissioning new work.  In
the US, at any rate, there are too few opera companies to create a decent
market.  It's hard enough for an established composer.  Barber's Antony and
Cleopatra waited at least 15 years for a revival.  It's still nothing like
a staple.  Copland's Tender Land waited at least 30 years for a complete
recording.  Vaughan Williams's Poisoned Kiss has never, as far as I know,
had a professional production.  Have you ever seen a Prokofiev opera live?
I haven't.  Add to this the fact that most women composers aren't as
visible as most men, and you get a fairly sad situation about the health
of American opera life.

Steve Schwartz