Robert Peters <[log in to unmask]> responds to Denis Fodor's
expression of distaste for "faction" in music:

>So what about operas based on "faction"? Should we ban them? What
>about "Guglielmo Tell", what about "Klinghoffer's Death", what about
>"Tosca"'s Scarpia, what about plays like Puschkin's "Mozart and Salieri"
>or Shakespeare's royal dramas?...

Obviously I wasn't talking about banning _anything_- and not only because
I couldn't do it even if I tried.  Artists are free to falsify, though
in my view when they do so they're being more devious than artful.  As
for historically falsified operas, I like Tosca and even Tell for their
music.  Like most other grand opera I couldn't care less about the lyrics,
abaout the story.  It's the music, music, music I go to hear.  Shakespeare'
s royal dramas are impressive for the splendor of their language which
bears the mark of a period when history was not as rigorously researched,
or written as it is today.  One has to make allowwance for that (as one
does for Livy's way of writing Roman history).  Pushkin's historical
efforts are notable, as are, for instance, Emil Ludwig's, though Ludwig
stands out for his fluency and Pushkin for his literacy....

Denis Fodor