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It is not quite the case that 'Every composer wants to write an opera', as Wheeler suggests; the idea of Bruckner, for instance, glancing humbly at more than the symphonic hem of Wagner's skirt is unthinkable. But some time ago, in The Construction of Boston cantata, Wheeler demonstrated his dramatic skill. Now he attractively expounds the fascination of this subject for him. With no element of pastiche, he has found an accessible idiom for his late nineteenth-century tale [watch and listen -- chapter 2, 4:08-5:25]. Equally engaging is Plácido Domingo himself, untenored for the occasion, but proud enabler of the whole venture and and artistic director too [watch and listen -- chapter 2, 6:02-7:23].

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