Lyric creative team talks 'Bel Canto,' Ars Viva tackles elusive Sibelius symphony

No opera company faces a more formidable task than commissioning a new opera, assembling the forces needed to bring it to fruition and nursing it through the long and sometimes painful process leading up to the premiere. But such undertakings are vital if opera houses are not to become museums mired in the musty past.

John von Rhein

November 5, 2012