In opera much of the ideas and of the plot is sacrificed in order to make continual singing possible. The result is somewhat unnatural. On the stage when a man is happy he sings; and when a man is sad he also sings; whether a man is "anxious or at peace, from beginning to end he is singing. No doubt it is most interesting to hear singing all the time, but it is also one-sided, it does not give one a full idea of the play; it only gives one an occasion to hear singing.