I should preface my comments with an (obvious) admission: I do not believe that opera is anywhere near as important in the QB canon as allowed distributions permit. While I like (some) opera, I don't think opera is necessarily the most important part of the classical repertoire (as is indicated by the distribution comments below, opera currently *does* maintain that position in QB). ==================================== Um, I'm not sure where you got your figures from ACF, but you're just plain wrong. Upon a quick count of the answers for the 15 packets at Nationals, here is the breakdown - Opera (7 TU, 6 B); Classical (7 TU, 10 B); and one bonus on Jazz. While ACF has been opera heavy in the past, that was not the case with this year's Nationals when it was in the minority in terms of total questions (13 out of 31). ============== I went through about eight or nine of the ACF National packets--however, combined with your statistics, this indicates that most packets either had classical music only, or opera only, and the sorting mechanism somehow managed to put all the non-opera questions in the group of packets I didn't read. [At the very least, it would appear that for some packet writers, classical music and opera are synonymous.] So does this mean that opera isn't entrenching itself? Maybe. =============================================== "That may be your recollection, but it wasn't the case. In the Division I rounds for the ICT there were 7 tossups and 7 bonuses on "classical" (e.g. renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, etc.) music. There were also 7 tossups and 7 bonuses on opera. "In any case, it is not NAQT's policy to favor opera over classical music in its distribution." ===== If there were in fact seven tossups on classical music during the tournament, then most of them must have been located near the back of the packet. [In the fifteen rounds I played, there were three--Dukas, Das Lied von der Erde, and The Unanswered Question, and we heard on average 23 tossups per game. The only way you get close to seven is if you count the multiple Gilbert and Sullivan questions as part of the classical total, rather than opera.] At the same time, why is opera considered as important a category as the rest of classical music combined? But 13/30 and 14/28 is still a lot of opera, when you consider that symphonies, concertos, choral music, lieder, ballets, chamber music, orchestral music--not to mention general questions about composers--only get 17/30 and 14/28. --AEI
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