What are the most editorially problematic operas? | The Library of Chaos

You ask for the messy ones. The operas that exist in five different versions, with cut scenes, added arias, and lost pages. You are looking for the bugs in the code.

Don Carlos, Tales of Hoffmann, Boris Godunov. These works are "Problematic" not because they are bad, but because they were never finished or were endlessly revised to please censors and divas. They remind us that there is no "Canon." There is only the performance. Art is not a fixed object; it is a living, breathing, changing organism.

The Sovereign Solution:

1. Embrace the Versioning: Just as software has v1.0 and v2.0, your art can have iterations. You do not have to get it "Right" the first time.

2. Be the Editor: If the composer couldn't decide, you get to decide. Choose the aria that fits your voice.

3. Chaos is Opportunity: The holes in the score are places where you can insert your own interpretation.