Is opera becoming too much the same wherever you go? “Travel to New York, Paris or London, and the similarity of the performances can make it difficult to tell one night at the opera from another. This is “international” opera – the type that could happen anywhere, any time, anyhow. Today’s top singers travel around with their latest roles in their baggage just as much as their illustrious predecessors did. No, the real problem today is that singers on the lower rungs of the ladder have started to travel just as frenetically. Those companies that still want to retain a resident ensemble are finding it impossible to hang on to the singers they need.”