Jeff Dunn:

>I'll put down the gauntlet here and state my postmodern preference: once
>it's in the public domain, it's fair game.  It's not WHETHER to modify an
>existing work, but how successful is the result.  I see it as no different
>than what is commonly done with operas, where the stage directions are
>ignored or even reversed.

I do agree on one point:  If operas are stage as ridiculously as they
are nowadays, there is no real point in refusing to alter the music as
well.  On the contrary, it is quite an obvious choice.  However, I for
one absolutely disagree with the policy of staging operas differently
than demanded in the score.  I don't think that works ever enter public
domain, morally.  I believe that a composer's work should be left
untouched, and performed with utmost fidelity to the score, and that does
of course include the staging.  If people so desperately want to create
something "new" and "exciting", they're free to composer new works, write
new operas.  I do my best to give them a fair choice and listen and see.

Jan