Acting vs. Voice

Intriguing question. Although I have little experience with live opera, Iam a fairly regular concert-goer, and can attest to the pleasure of feelingsound waves in the hall as they strike the body. It's a tad different fromlistening to a recording.Still, on the whole, I think the music itself, live or recorded, can do thejob. Who among us hasn't been just working around the house, doingsomething perfectly ordinary, when a beautiful voice or melody came out ofthe hi-fi and, without warning, performed the equivalent of a tackle andemotional takedown? No acting needed there. Live concerts, however, do offer that mysterious, unpredictable thing thatpasses between the actor or performer and the audience. This powerful buthard-to-define interaction certainly adds a fulfilling dimension to theexperience. In addition, many people enjoy the group aspect of thephenomenon, maybe even more than the substance of the performance.